STATurday: Baby steps

It is a moral failing of mine that I have trouble making myself go back and fix things once I've made them.  I dislike trying to refit garments after they are finished.  I'm terrible at upcycling fabric.  So it was that when I realized sometime yesterday that the burgundy twill skirt was, in fact, several inches too big around the waist, and that the darts in the back were all wrong, I really had to gird my loins to take apart the back waist band this morning.  The photos convinced me of the weird fit around the waist and hips, however, and my own sense that the skirt just didn't feel right all day yesterday.  

So I sighed, pulled out my seam ripper and went to work.  I started out adding a second set of darts alongside the first, as that has worked in the past, but it looked weird and bulky.  So I took that all out, and redid the darts all together.  I used my fitting for the navy skirt and rayon dress as a guide.  I ended up taking nearly an inch and a half out of the waistband, and making the darts closer together than they were.  I'm happier with the fit now--it is closer than before (I may possibly have over-fitted the waist band slightly, but given how quickly my measurements around the middle are changing, and the fact that I just finished a course of oral steroids, I'm going to leave it).  

Speaking of measurements, I got out the tape measure this morning and took some, so I have a report to make.  Somehow, I was expecting more of a change from the middle of the month.  I've had some drama with my throat the last two weeks, and had to have another endoscopy earlier this week, and my calorie intake has been affected rather severely as a result.  I have two ulcers in my throat where a pill got stuck earlier this month, so I have to figure out how best to manage that for the moment.

So the report: I've lost a few pounds, but not so many inches.  I'm down a total of 16 pounds from July 15 as of this morning, and have lost another 1/2" off hips and thighs, plus a smidge off my biceps.  My BMI just dropped a point as well, so I'm happy about that.  I "feel" thinner, so I guess that is something??

I've not been working out as regularly these last few weeks, in part because I was getting a lot of exercise in during my daily routine (hello, 11 miles on foot for school routes last week!), but also because I've not been feeling all that great this month.  The Papal visit really messed up our routine for more than two weeks, so I'm hoping that things will settle back in this coming week.  I'm also planning to keep on walking the boys to school in the morning when it works out weather-wise, because that is two miles for free and it really doesn't take that long.  It is harder to do the pick up on foot in the afternoon because of having to get Birdie on the other end of town, but mornings should work for a while anyway.  It is good for the boys to get some wiggles out on the way to school too, I think.

As for food, not much has changed.  I'm portioning my meals and calculating the calorie load using the recipe and food calculator in My Fitness Pal.  I'm logging all my food over there as well.  I did have to go off cottage cheese for about a week with all the throat stuff, but that seems better now.  I've learned that I really can't trust my body's signals with regard to hunger and satiety, so I have to go by the numbers instead.

This is a long process, and there are going to be health issues, set backs, oral steroids, and hormone fluctuations.  Kids will get sick, I will get sick, my husband is busy or will be travelling, exercise won't happen.  I can, however, choose to be mindful about my calorie intake, keep track, stay on track.  

Stay the course!