Taking the Slow Road

Yesterday, we drove from our home in East Tennessee to Lexington, KY for my husband to attend a conference this week.  Normally, this would be a quick 2 1/2 hour trip up I-75, but in keeping with our travel philosophy of never driving on an interstate if possible, we managed to take 7 hours for the trip and loved every minute of it.  I have been a hopeless vagabond since childhood and have never seen a road that I wasn't curious as to where it lead.  Once I retired, we wanted to become travelers rather than vacationers and that's when we became very serious about our "no interstate" philosophy.  We enjoyed a morning break at Cumberland Gap National Park, picnic lunch somewhere in the Daniel Boone National Forest and an afternoon stroll through the laid-back downtown area of Irvine, KY.  Driving through Winchester, KY, we stumbled upon the Second Annual Beer Cheese Festival which showcased small town America at its finest.  Most of these roads we will likely never travel again and I wouldn't trade our experience yesterday for any amount of extra time we might have gained by flying up I-75.  We have all week to enjoy Lexington - yesterday was for taking the slow road.

How does this apply to weight loss?  This time around, I'm trying to make myself lose weight more slowly so that transitioning from weight loss mode to maintenance mode will be a little less traumatic.  I'm trying to be creative with my food plan by trying new foods and different ways of preparing them.  In evaluating past weight loss efforts, many of which were successful, I've found that what I "gained" from losing weight quickly, I very soon "lost" in my inability to maintain because I had not learned anything new during the journey.  Seems like those words, "gained" and "lost", are backwards doesn't it, but no, I said exactly what I meant.  I was so focused on "gaining" a new skinny me that I "lost" the understanding of why I was doing this in the first place and upon reaching goal, I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I'd just revert back to old habits.  Most of us have already learned through failed past efforts, that losing weight is really the "easy" part.  Keeping it off is where the battle begins.  And it's a battle that never ends. 

So for right now, life through Sharon's eyes means taking the slow road not just when I travel, but in all areas of my life including my weight loss journey.  There are new adventures around every corner, new foods to try, new relationships to build, new roads to travel, but you can't be flying down the interstate and expect to find them.

Last week's commitment to keeping a meticulous food journal and posting what I ate on the blog paid huge dividends in just a few days.  I was able to quickly see that yes, I was consuming way too many calories to expect a weight loss.  I found ways to make adjustments and this week had a small loss.  I ate well and at no time, felt deprived.  From time to time, I'll continue posting what I eat, but for now, there are just too many other things I want to write about.  I do promise, however, that I am keeping my food journal - if it goes in my mouth, it goes in the journal!!

This week's update:

Weight Loss This Week:  .71 pounds (23.21 pounds to goal)

Average Daily Steps This Week:  10883

Did not hike or bike this week