A Brief Update on Sugar, Diet, and Exercise

It’s been a while since I made myself accountable for how my health goals are going, and since I’m a believe that accountability increases performance, I’m here to correct that today.

Most times in the past, when I’ve stopped giving these updates, it’s because I’ve stopped really paying attention to my weight (and have thus started gaining it back). This time, the reason I’ve stopped posting is that it’s not really noteworthy to me at the moment. I’m actually at 187 as of this morning, a total of 30.8 pounds lost since I started the diet again back in January. I pushed hard to get below 195 (and become technically “normal” according to BMI), but since then, I’ve just been focused on staying below that and pushing for some more loss if possible.

I think the biggest difference is that this time, coupled with my exercise goals and my decision to trim most processed sugar out of my diet, I don’t view this as a temporary thing. I am not going to put the weight back on, because I don’t want to do the things (or not do the things) that would make that happen.

Of course, I’ve been wrong in the past, and I could be wrong this time, but let’s put it this way: I’m planning on buying a new wardrobe for my new size. Clothes that actually fit me. And if I’m willing to spend real money on something, that’s usually the best sign that I’m taking it seriously.

What continues to work best for me is this monthly goal I have of staying below a certain weight. For the past three months, that’s been 195. I’m lowering it to 190 now, and I’ll continue to lower it until I get to a weight I’m happy with and which is sustainable. I imagine this will be around 175, give or take 5 pounds. I certainly have padding that I can still lose, and as long as the weight is coming off easily, then I see no reason to lose my momentum. I had some blips when company came to visit or when I went to Florida for ALA, but other than that, the loss has been steady.

So there you have it: no news in this case was actually great news.

Thanks for all your support.