Intervention

You know, I'm really proud of the progress I've made over the last few months in cleaning up my diet. Because of the amount of water I'm drinking, I've been able to go from drinking 10-11 Vitamin Waters per week to 3-4. I've even had a seven-day run without any missteps on the snacking front. When I start to feel those terrible late-night cravings these days, I try to head 'em off by eating a piece of fruit or a dish of berries. Even if I'm not particularly interested in fruit at the moment. It seems to do the trick --- gives my stomach something to work on and I forget about the food I was craving. I can see myself buying less and less of things like cheese and Quaker rice crisp snacks. And I've never once in all these weeks cheated on my workout.

So I was a little disappointed to see 184 on the scale during this morning's weigh-in. That's 1 lb. higher than last Sunday's 183. My total weight loss in the 12 weeks since April 9 = 10 lbs. No time to fret, though. Onward and upward! I've got lots more work left to do --- and the monumental challenge of a week's vacation in front of me. It's going to be a battle just to keep up my walking and exercises and to stick to my new and improved eating habits. Especially while I'm traveling. (I usually relieve airport stress by eating!) This morning's results on the scale call for an intervention, but I'm going to make it a minor one. Just a few small changes...

Fitness
Did I mention that I've gone back to walking at lunch on weekdays? I didn't mind going to the rec center, but - between the workout and recovering from a stomachache from trying to eat anything beforehand - I was pretty much losing Monday and Wednesday evenings entirely. For now, I think I'd rather lose half my lunch hour. I'm going to kick things up a notch for this next mission by adding an additional five minutes to both my weekend workouts:

Walk 30 minutes a day, four times during the week.
Walk 65 minutes a day, both days during the weekend.

Reducing
I think my dessert mission is on the right track, but my dear readers have reminded me of some modern twists that might be a slight improvement on the vintage suggestions. I'm going to substitute sorbet for the sherbet. And when I need a chocolate fix, I'll make that pudding up with skim milk instead of 1%.

1/2 cup fat-free rainbow sherbet = 120 calories
vs.
1/2 cup raspberry sorbet = 80 calories

1/2 cup chocolate pudding (1% organic milk) = 140 calories
vs.
1/2 cup chocolate pudding (organic skim milk) = 130 calories

Having some skim milk around the house means I'll be able to use it in all sorts of things - from my morning coffee to scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes! I'll be back later today with a housekeeping post...