Less of Me to Love

you may have noticed there's just less of me to love

(Sorry boys.) Since mid-June 2011, I've lost 18.8 implementer pounds, those gained while working a 75-hour-a-week job as a traveling monkey project manager. 

right now

I find the most success with adhering to the Atkins regimen (link: Mayo Clinic review) while using the My Fitness Pal website and accompanying iPhone app. Surprisingly, for me, Atkins doesn't mean eating burgers and bacon all day every day. Instead, I have 2 over-easy eggs for breakfast, a huge salad for lunch, and grilled veg and a protein for dinner. Not too different from any other healthy diet.

surprising side-effect

Maybe sometimes I might have had an occasional moment of acting short-tempered. Possibly. Now that I consume so few carbohydrates, I have zero mood swings. I have to believe there's a direct correlation. Lately, I border on sedated. Kinda boring, actually.

I do have a private target weight

This is superseded by my fitness goal, which is simply to be fit enough to run regularly this winter. In winters past (I mean waaay past) I would rack up 5-10 miles a night. Now, however, thanks to a few years of inactivity and overindulgence, my lungs need to acclimate to strenuous activity in these cool autumn temperatures or I risk some awful bouts with exercise-induced asthma. 

to achieve my goal

I've started wogging* (walk/jogging) every morning.** I can now wog farther than I could comfortably walk at the beginning of the summer. PROGRESS! The hills no longer intimidate me, but I am getting a little bored of my routes. ALSO PROGRESS! Time to map out a new route.

now, I'll be honest

Sometimes I get a little frustrated with how far I've come from the young, fit Siobhan. It pisses me off that I didn't start standing on scales when I was a healthy weight in college. Nip those first 5 extra in the bud. Take advantage of the hotel workout rooms while traveling for work. Maybe skip a few of those nights out downtown drinking -- and then over-eating -- with my friends. Avoid the snowball effect that brought me to that place.

the frustration doesn't last long

Someone wise once taught me a trick about stopping negative thoughts: consider your negative thoughts like search results for the term "Amazon." If you're looking for information about the river, you quite literally have to skip past the first page of results (which are all about Amazon.com). Acknowledge the negative thought(s) and then keep moving until you encounter a positive one. Latch onto that one. Act on that one. Remember that one. Next, next, next, DISCO! I remind myself that negative thoughts are unproductive at best, counterproductive or destructive at worst.

spend a LOT of time generally feeling good
In some small way I feel good about each of the little decisions I make about what I eat and how I feel when I exercise. Literally. Every little step is something to feel good about.

Um, the end.

*Not to be mistaken with swogging. More on that this winter.

**Extra bonus: an uber-happy border collie who loves running more than couch-napping