MONTHLY CHECK-IN

WEIGHT LOSS THIS MONTH: -3.5 (which is a 3.5 lb gain)
WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE: 36.5
DAYS BIKE-COMMUTED: 14 (though some of these were only one-way commutes because my boyfriend picked me up or I chose to walk one way)
DAYS WALK-COMMUTED: 2 (both ways)
POTENTIAL COMMUTING DAYS MISSED: 4
BREAKDOWN OF EXCUSES USED BY COMMUTE DAYS MISSED:
Taking Tiggy to the Spay Clinic for Snippety-Balls (aka, neuter surgery) - 1
Mechanical Failure - 1
Something Right After Work - 2

I didn't expect epic weight loss this month because I got some rides home from work here and there so I didn't get as much commuting in as usual. I was expecting something like the five pounds I managed to lose last month, not the 12 pounds I lost in January. But a 3.5 pound gain? Really? How disappointing.

Perhaps I've come to that point in my weight loss journey where I'm either going to have to kick it up a notch with the exercise or really dial down my eating habits. And, quite frankly, I don't think I have much more time for exercise in my single-parent-working-full-time lifestyle than the five hours a week I already spend on it. So, what option am I left with? Sigh . . . changing eating habits.

A few months ago I lent a friend at work my South Beach Diet books. She describes herself as "serene" while on this diet because it reduces her cravings for sugar and other carbohydrates, her Achilles heel. As much as she doesn't enjoy eating as much as she would otherwise, she does find she feels much better while "on The Beach". I'm not sure that's what I want to do, exactly, follow a diet that restrictive - but perhaps the principle of eating more lean proteins and fewer simple carbohydrates is a generally good one to follow most of the time.

But, as my friend noted, eating a naked slab of chicken breast just isn't as fun as a pretty pastry from Duchess Bake Shop or a delicious Slurpee. I know it doesn't have to be one or the other, that there is room for some balance in my nutritional landscape, but I can't say the prospect of eating lean proteins excites me on any level. Not remotely. Ahh, well, no pain, no gain . . . right??