1.9 pounds to reach my goal. How are all team members progressing? Does anyone here do meal preparation? I like to take a day and prepare a wide variety of healthy meals. Below I fix bake salmon and vegetables, for this week I also fix shrimp with broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, and red and green peppers. Additionally, I fix chicken chop suey with cabbage, carrot red and green peppers, and a few handfuls of spinach.

Today has been a really awful day. I mean REALLY awful!

I'm so motivated to lose weight right now, but my body seems to be fighting me. I thought I was getting to the point where I could start on some serious walking leading to getting back on my bicycle sometime this spring. But the knee I had replaced last June has "exploded" in pain and pressure on each of the last two days, to the point where I can barely walk. I've had to go back to using a cane for stability this evening, and getting in and out of a car is a painful ordeal. Orthopedist appt. made for this Friday.

On top of that, the heart issue I thought I was on top of kicked back in today, perhaps from all the pain. I'm supposed to be having a cardiologist call to make an appointment but it hasn't happened yet, so I will chase that down tomorrow.

I'm so frustrated!

But...there is good news. Before the weight loss began in January, this would have been an evening where I would have tried to drown my frustration in unhealthy foods, looking for soul-less flavor to try to cheer me up.

But not today. I just ate my last snack of the day, and I'm still 300 calories under my goal! I needed this victory, but I was so busy feeling sorry for myself that I didn't see it until just a few minutes ago.

Healthy habits can move us forward, and they can sustain us when we fall backwards. I want comfort, but not in food that will do me no good.

Thanks for letting me vent. Hopefully tomorrow goes better than today, but if it doesn't, I still won't turn to food to comfort my pain. I'm too good for that!

What are you plans to keep yourself from derailing your progress over the weekend?

I will stick to the plan and prepare all my meals like during the weekday, with the exception of a potato bar at a church event on Sunday. But potatoes are part of my diet, so as long as I don't load them up with high-calorie toppings, I should be good.

Anyone else listen to the American Glutton podcast? Ethan is so positive and motivating. I listened to it a bunch during the 2020 lockdowns and I got down to 150 lbs (I’m 207 lbs now…). He motivates you to only look at yourself for progress, not to compare to others, and to most importantly kill your clone from the previous day.

My 1 year old is very sick so I won’t be able to go to the gym all week. Usually I’d self sabotage. But instead I’m writing down everything I eat and meal prepping each day. I’m also sticking to my other routines, and telling myself it’s just a few days. As soon as my husband is off work by Sunday—regardless of the baby—I’ll have four solid days of exercise opportunities again.