Postpartum Shape-Up Week 3: Making It Work in Real Life

Not much weight loss to speak of this week. I was down a mere 4 oz, which is really nothing at all if you consider that your weight can swing by a couple of pounds during the course of a single day.

I'm not discouraged, though. I've lost about 8 pounds in three weeks. Not too shabby! I'm guessing that the rate of change will be much slower from now on. And really, weight loss isn't my only objective here.

This past week went fairly well. My biggest challenge was sticking to my goals in social and work situations. Although I always followed the principles of the No S Diet (no sweets, no snacks, no seconds), I couldn't always stick to my modifications to it (lowish carb, natural foods).

On Monday, I had enjoyed a fun night out with some girlfriends. We ate at Salut, and I think I did fairly well ordering a lowish carb, moderate meal (beef skewers over a bed of wilted greens and some kind of beans).

Later in the week, I had a training session for work. I didn't fare as well there, but I did my best. We had boxed lunches with sandwiches, chips, a cookie and some carrots. I had a cranberry chicken salad sandwich on a crossoint (tasty, but definitely not something I would have made as a healthy lunch at home), the carrots, just a few of the chips and a bit of the cookie.

Finally, I attended a big family gathering on Saturday that included food, Food, FOOD! Although it certainly counted as a special day within the framework of the No S Diet, I kept my consumption fairly moderate. I had some of my Grandma Adeline's delicious Swedish meatballs, some broccoli salad, and some fruit. I skipped the desserts entirely, because Rowan ended up developing a fever and a sore throat before I even had a chance to check out the selections. (He's doing much better now!)

Overall, I think I did a decent job of sticking to my healthy eating goals.

In addition to eating well, I also began Cool Running's Couch to 5K training program last week. I did the program in 2009 and was amazed that I could actually RUN three miles at the end of it. I didn't exactly keep up the habit, though. And honestly, I might not stick with running this time around either. I'm doing the program mainly to get my heart and lungs conditioned for exercise. At the end of it, my goal is simply to continue exercising. Period.

Next week, I'll share some thoughts I've been stewing on about trying to get healthy in what has become a pretty unhealthy world...

Current Weight (taken morning of 2/07/11):

147.8