Daily Life Through Sharon's Eyes

Wow, this blogging things gets away from you quickly, doesn't it?  I plan to blog at least every couple of days and had hoped to blog daily while getting my story told.  Next thing I know, it's Sunday and I haven't written since Thursday.  Will have to work on a better schedule.   Also changed my mind about today's post.  Rather than write about my decision to retire early, I decided to just catch up on what's been going on in my life.  Realized there are lots of blogging days to come - the story doesn't all have to be told the first week!

My husband is a Professor and Program Coordinator of the Music Department at one of our Community Colleges.  He is now out of school until July 1 and as he says it, "I now have him 24/7."  Normally, we travel during this period of time, but for several reasons decided to stay close to home this year and do several short jaunts to places we enjoy.  We have already spent four days in Charleston, SC and will be heading to an inn near the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few days this week.  We are in search of higher elevations, cooler temps and new hiking trails. 

Travel always presents challenges for someone who is trying to lose weight.  The temptations presented when eating in restaurants are too great for me to handle and sometimes the planning involved in taking my own food is simply more than I want to deal with.  However, in keeping with our commitment to a frugal lifestyle and need to travel cheaply, we've become accustomed to carrying the majority of our own food and finding places to stay that have kitchens or microwave oven/mini-fridges.   The inn where we are headed doesn't have the kitchen or microwave, but does have a mini-fridge.  I've got a fridge full of veggies and good stuff from yesterday's farmer's market, so we'll make it work.  Hopefully, hubby wont notice that he's eating carrot sticks instead of chips!!  LOL!  Crackers and chips are two of my "trigger" foods, so right now, they just can't go.  Thank goodness, he's good with that. 

We had dinner with friends last evening.   I made some good choices (passed on the appetizers) and some poor choices (three slices of bread w/butter and dessert) resulting in a weight gain this morning which was not unexpected.  Since I weigh daily and average those weights weekly, one day can skew the whole week especially if the gain is near the first day of week like today. 

My plan for losing this 30 pounds is still evolving, but I believe I'm still eating too much for me to lose weight.  I'm eating all good things (except last night's dessert!!), but one still must burn more calories than they consume in order to lose weight.  I like the things I'm eating and the schedule I'm following.  I must work on fixing and eating less of those things.  If I don't see some results, I may need to revert back to my regimented plan outlined in an earlier post in order to get my body in weight loss mode again.

On Sunday of each week, I will record my weight loss and average number of steps for the previous week.  I will also record any hiking and/or biking miles that I accomplished.

Weight Loss:   .29 pounds  (24 pounds to goal)

Average Steps:  14164

Hiking Miles:  7

Biking Miles:  did not bike this week