STATurday: Milestones

I think it is time for another check in--I feel like I've hit a kind of milestone, so I thought it might be worth noting down.

First off: stats.  I'm down 13 pounds since mid-July, and about 12", mostly between my waist and hips (almost 4" off each, plus a bit off arms, bust, and thighs)  I'm half way to the weight loss target I was given by the trainer at the gym (although not to my own personal goal weight).  I'm basically back to where I was at the end of the summer in 2012.  I lost about 8 pounds that fall (while unknowingly in my first trimester with Ponchik!) and felt really good about things then.  Losing another 13 would put me close to where I was when I got married.  So it feels like a way station.

The most notable thing about these last couple of weeks is that I've been pretty sick with a lung infection, so I've not been able to work out as much as I was.  I had to take nearly a week off from the gym during the most acute phase of the illness, during the first week of September, and am still dealing with a fair amount of lingering fatigue and lung junk.  I'm on antibiotics now, and I think Thursday was the first day I didn't feel like death come supper time.  So perhaps I've turned a corner on the illness.  I was pretty washed out again yesterday morning, so took the day off, but I'm going to go again this morning.  I'm only going to clock about 7 miles on the treadmill this week (I went once earlier this week and will do another 3 today, God-willing) 4 miles this week because I've been felled by another sneaky virus, but I am trying to do a more active-recovery style workout when I do go.  I'm not lifting until my lungs are totally clear.  I'll get back to my routine soon, I hope.

As for food, I'm trying to stick to my 1670 daily calorie target, trying to eat high protein meals, and staying out of the kitchen in the evenings, for the most part.  Logging my food on My Fitness Pal has been very helpful in this direction.  I admit, the illness has taken my appetite as well, so some of the loss has been due to that.  My goal is to keep it off by sticking to my eating plan.  (I guess getting another virus before the old one is gone is good for something??)

Right now, I am eating 2 cups of a Chex-like cereal in the morning, with whole milk and drinking a bit of iced coffee with milk.  Lunch is often cottage cheese with sour cherry preserves, or perhaps leftovers.  I usually have a bit of a chocolate bar with my lunch.  I did experiment with a faux chicken salad this week that was pretty much a disaster.  I was tolerating some popcorn okay, so I made it once in the pan, and also bought some of the olive-oil popped variety from Trader Joe's that is good. After some drama involving a stuck pill over the weekend, however, I'm sticking to a low-irritant diet and will hold off on popcorn for a while now. Watermelon is still good, as are grapes, so I'm eating those pretty often as well.  I'm getting better at portions for dinner, particularly with foods I prepare myself from scratch, so there's that as well.  (That has always been my issue with food logging programs--they work best on pre-prepared foods that have specific nutritional information included on the packaging.  If you mostly prepare your own food, and you eat the way we do, more casserole style, then gauging portions for a recipe can be tricky).

Mostly, I just feel like my body feels normal again--like it is mine, and the alien invaders of the last 18 months are starting to move house.  

In other news, I used some credits I had on my ThredUp account to purchase these shoes, and was on the fence about returning them, because they are a bit higher than I normally wear, even with the toe platform.  I also had a decent neutral pair of sandals I wore all summer (the second-hand Naturalizers that have featured in many a sewing post these last months).  Then suddenly, on my way out the door on Thursday night, my Naturalizers just fell apart on me!  No hope for repair.  So I decided to keep these in their place.  I like them and they are surprisingly comfortable.  I love it when God looks after even the little things.

Just the facts:

Button pocket dress: Eshakti

Wannabe Hasbeen shoes: Old Navy via ThredUp

Earrings: from my gram

Psalm necklace: gift from a friend, from Georgia (the country, not the state)