What goes up must come down...

This week, I've ridden back up to the top of the hill that I went down last week. I lost two pounds! That gave me such a mental boost. I was able to walk out of the bathroom after facing the "dreaded scale" and feel proud and relieved this morning. And that's a nice feeling!

The secret to my success? Simple. I recorded every morsel of food that I ate and kept my daily calorie count at 1,400. My exercising was the same intensity and the same amount of time. The only difference I made in my normal schedule was adjusting my calorie allowance, so I have no doubt that is the reason for my dropping not one, but two pounds. I'm kind of kicking myself right now. Seems I should have done this months ago! Why didn't I ever do it? Everyone in the diet and fitness world talk about the importance of recording your meals. I know that. Remember? I kept track of my meals for months! But I stopped awhile ago. And that was because I thought I had learned what I needed to and that I could keep track well enough in my head. I know the calorie count per serving in most everything by now! So I assumed that I could do fine without recording. My thought process was this : people can't keep track of their meals for the rest of their lives! At some point, I figured that I would somehow graduate out of the realm of recording meals, as if it was something that only those beginning to try and lose weight had to do. I felt like it was a crutch, a sign of weakness. You know what I mean? Maybe not, if you've never tried to lose weight. But those of you who have can probably relate.

Anyway, I grabbed an empty notebook and began the recording process again. I was under the impression that I was eating just fine; that all I would find after recording my meals for a week was that I was eating right and it wasn't contributing to my plateau problem. Hmmm...must have been wrong there! It was an eye-opener for me. I was eating too much. Again, not a huge amount. But enough that it kept me stuck. Math is a huge part of weight loss, much to my disappointment. (I've never enjoyed math - ever!) For the past several months, I've been eating enough to maintain my weight. That's why one week I'd lose, the next week I'd gain, etc. But, I stayed at the same general weight. So I'm hoping, REALLY hoping that this is the answer to my plateau problem. This next week, I'll be keeping my record notebook right by my side!

Rejoicing in Him ~ Bekah