I know - I'm late again. Sorry!

For some reason, I can never seem to find time to post on Friday. I suppose it's because Friday is the last day of the week and I have a million things to do that I kept pushing from my schedule until then. I don't know, but maybe you all should expect to get an update on Saturday, and then if I do happen to post on a Friday - you can be pleasantly surprised! :-)

I had another good week. Right now, I've stopped charting/counting calories as I think I'm knowledgeable enough to know what I can and can not eat. (Now, just because I know that doesn't mean I always choose the best, but I'm working on it!) But I'm so excited about how you really can re-train your tastebuds. So many things I used to l-o-v-e now taste too rich or too oily. This doesn't happen overnight, of course. It took me several months to finally give up certain foods. (Or at least cut them from my "everyday foods" to "once in a blue moon" foods.) I had a chocolate chip cookie awhile ago during one of my cheat meals, and though it did taste yummy, I found myself totally okay with only having one. It was really rich! I've also noticed that things don't sit well in my stomach if I eat something with a lot of fat or sugar. I just don't feel 100% after that. Anyway, perhaps you're also trying to lose weight and think it's impossible for you to give up certain foods. Perhaps you've believed the same lie I did. You know, the one that says, "Healthy foods taste disgusting. They are boring, have no taste, and are completely unpalatable.". I would have agreed with you 2 years ago, but now I simply can't.

We went out to eat at Applebee's last night before heading to a concert, and because it was my cheat meal, I decided to venture off of the salad section and decided to get the grilled teriyaki bowl. (It was actually pretty good. Lots of rice with veggies and chicken.) However, we ordered an appetizer before the meal and when they brought it out, I was shocked to see that there were 3 celery sticks on it. I immediately called those celery sticks "mine", and my sisters kind of looked at me like, "And you thought we were going to fight over those?". Well, one can always hope, can't they? I decided not to totally rack up the calories by eating the mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings, but I did have some asparagus dip with a few tortilla chips. Everything in moderation...

Oh, wait. I'm supposed to write about the weigh in, aren't I? Okay, well I was bummed to see the scale read 173, which put me up a pound from last week. Not sure quite sure what's up with that. But, it does seem to be a cycle of sorts for me. Lose some, gain some. I'm not really concerned about one measly little pound, though. I was encouraged again yesterday as I threw on some pants and realized that I really needed a belt for them. Saggy and baggy they were!

My plan for this next week is to really change up my exercise schedule again. I'll do the treadmill and weight training, but also jump rope and bicycling, and I think I might even head down to the basement and wipe the dust off of the Norditrack and Gazelle. Anything that gets my heart pumping is on the schedule this week! We'll see how that works.

To God all praise and glory ~ Bekah

P.S. Hey, if you ever come across a neat book or website about weight loss, would you mind sharing it with me? I love reading about it, especially other people's success stories. My bookshelf is overflowing right now, but I'm always on the lookout for more. Thanks!