444 days, and 76 lbs lost.

It’s a math game people.  That is 0.17 lbs a day.  Or a 595 calorie a day deficit.   Manageable, and actually right around the amount of calories one hour on the elliptical burns for me.

What does 76 lbs look like?   this….

I have pretty much lost him.

And then, there is this list I found…..

300 STICKS OF BUTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  262,500 BEES!!!!!!!!! Wow.  How many calories in 300 sticks of butter -24000.  When divided by 3500 (think calories) = 68.  So if you supplemented your daily caloric intake to maintain your weight with a stick of butter a day, you would, in 300 days, gain 68 lbs.  What does that have to do with anything?  Nothing really.  Except it’s math.  And this whole weight loss thing is pretty much a math game.

CRAY CRAY.  Simply Cray Cray. I feel physically great.

Mentally, it’s amazing to have my mind free of the tape by the itty bitty shitty committee yelling on infinite loop….”You should go to the gym, you’re not eating right, you have to lose weight, you used to be in great shape, how are you going to fix this? You have no willpower, you look terrible, you are going to get diabetes soon…”   Some days not having the “comfort food” makes my stress levels that much more intense – my stress relief outlets need to expand.  And they are. There’s the obvious:

• Exercise
• Meditation (which I RARELY do but when I do, it seems to help me feel less anxious – LIKE EVERYONE SAYS)
• Reciting the serenity prayer “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
• Writing Gratitude Lists (very infrequently, would like that to become more of a practice)

…and, the ‘less’ obvious

• Petting my cats
• Listening to baseball
• Watching true crime (I know, I don’t get it, it’s a little twisted, but I can “check out”)
• Hanging out with friends
• Cooking

…and the “questionable”  (am I checking out too ‘hard’?  Substituting?  Playing “Whack-a-mole” with my ‘bad’ habits…)

• online shopping
• Lurking on Facebook
• Reading “The Enquirer”

…I know there are more, but hey…that’s enough right now…

So, I say a huge thank you to the universe tonight for bringing me to where I am today by putting certain people in my life and helping me to be open to hearing and seeing the things that will keep me on the path of health and happiness.    Corny?  Maybe.  Contrived?  Not in the least.  I honest to God am so grateful for all I have received during this journey.

Especially the ice cream sundae I had tonight.  Balance my friends.  Balance.