I'm a Little Less Fat: Week 2 Check-In

I'll admit that I'm actually a little surprised to be seeing results already, but there is a distinct downward trend in my weight. The past few days have been consistently in the 173.5-174.5 pound range, which means I've lost roughly 4 pounds in two weeks. Hooray!

Looking back at my initial post, here's how each of the parts of my diet and exercise plan have been working out:

• Drink less alcohol. I've been good about all aspects of this part so far. I've limited myself to a single drink only on weekend days only. We went out for dinner last night and I opted for just a cocktail and no wine (okay, I had one sip of my husband's wine), which is definitely a change to my usual routine. I've been successful in cutting my at-home cocktails with seltzer to reduce the alcohol and therefore the calorie content. On nights when I'm not drinking, I'll sometimes have flavored seltzer in a cocktail glass with a fancy garnish so I don't feel like I'm missing out. Starting this week, I'm going to continue cutting back by limiting myself to alcohol only on Fridays and Saturdays, with the occasional exception for going out to dinner, which I'll continue to limit to either a cocktail or wine, not both. 
• Shrink portion sizes. This aspect is a little harder to gauge. I'm certainly making an effort. There are some meals where this is easier to do than others. For example, when we had pork chops the other day, I naturally served myself a whole pork chop (which I then ate in its entirety). But when we had chicken fried rice, I served myself a smaller portion than I normally would. I still struggle with overdoing it on the carbs, especially bread. My family loves bread, and I love baking bread, so I don't want to remove it from our menus; I just need to work harder at resisting the temptation to eat the whole batch all at once. 
• Drink more water. This has been a mixed result, mainly based on my schedule, When I'm at home, I keep a mug of water nearby at all times. I use the "measured fill" function on the water dispenser in the fridge to drink in 16-ounce increments. Somehow it's easier to think of drinking a mug of water several times a day than it is to look at the larger (32-ounce) jug I bring to work - when I remember - and think about drinking the whole thing. I also find myself tending to drink more in the morning and less later in the day. I'd like to work on drinking more before dinner, so I'll feel fuller at dinnertime and therefore hopefully eat less. I'd also like to make more of an effort to bring water with me when I'm not at home, whether I'm at work or out running errands. 
• Walk every day. I'll be honest: this one has been a big fail. It's been too cold and snowy to go outside for walks, and I have yet to unearth the treadmill. So on days when I'm at home, my activity level is pretty much zero. On days I work, however, I have been consciously making an effort to get up and walk, even if it's as simple as keeping my laptop on one side of the room and the pieces I'm working on on the other side of the room, so I have to keep walking back and forth. It may only be 10 steps each time, but 10 steps there and 10 steps back times 80 or 100 does add up. 
• Write down all of the above. I have been faithful about keeping my spreadsheet. It has certainly made me more aware of what I eat, especially while I'm eating it - or before I choose whether or not to eat it! In addition to the original information - water intake, alcohol intake, activity level, foot eaten, and current weight - I've added a column for foods and drinks that I've resisted. My husband baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies the other day and the smell was driving me crazy. I really REALLY wanted one - just one - but I resisted, even after both my husband and my son asked if I wanted one. (My answer, both times, was, "Yes, desperately, but I'm not going to have one.") And after my son's school concert, the whole family had frappes but I didn't. Looking back at all the times I wanted some bread, or a cocktail, or a sweet treat, or a Dunks iced coffee, but chose not to have it, reminds me that I'm doing really well at resisting temptation and making healthier choices. Even choosing an apple with peanut butter for lunch instead of a PB&J is a baby step on cutting out unneeded calories. It reminds me that I'm making progress even when the scale might not reflect it. Looking back at the good choices I've made makes it easier to make good choices the next time, and the next. 
• Track my weight. Again, this isn't for everyone, especially not on a daily basis, but for me it's a daily (sometimes twice daily) reminder to keep that needle moving in the right direction. And with my app, it lets me see the general trend of my weight changes over time. 
• Blog at least once a week. Making my weight loss journey public - knowing that people will know if I'm not doing well - is a huge motivator for me. If I have a couple of extra cocktails or eat large portions or have a few desserts, I'll have to confess it publicly, or at least confess the resulting weight gain (or lack of loss). It makes me think twice before deciding to cheat (or hopefully not to cheat). 

I thought about including a mention in each blog of "cheats this week," but I realized that I don't want to think of deliberate food choices as "cheats." So instead, this week's "treats" were one Dunk's iced coffee with cream and sweetened flavoring, and an appetizer with dinner at a restaurant. Allowing myself a reward every now and then reminds me that I'm not giving up treats forever, but that I can choose to enjoy them within reason. And it encourages me to find another place to cut a few calories to balance it out. 

So as my journey continues, I plan to work on being more active, avoiding bread, continuing to reduce my portion sizes and alcohol intake, and drinking more water (especially later in the day). But so far, what I'm doing seems to be working, and it seems to be sustainable. 

Quote for the week: Your diet is a bank account. Good choices are good investments.