Update

I'm happy to report things are going well on the dieting/training front! My current weight is 134.8 lbs. Of course we would all like to lose 2+ lbs a week, but since I'm in training, that really is unlikely, as I'm pretty sure I'm retaining water from muscle recovery. Anyway, the diet is going well. It certainly helps that Weight Watchers is online and so easy to use. I also have a ton of support from Scott, who always supports me and tells me I look great no matter what (isn't it awesome to have a guy like that?!).

My training schedule was awesome this week. I ran 15 miles total, with all of my running outside since the weather has been so great. My IT band isn't giving me too much trouble, which was a welcome change from training last fall. I hope to incorporate more weight training as my schedule allows.

What worked this week:
- Fruit! having fresh foods around totally helped satisfy cravings, especially mid-morning and late-afternoon
- Water, I drink at least 64 ounces a day and more on my running days. Did you know that drinking cold water speeds up your metabolism by as much as 30% even after you're done drinking? Water is essential to weight loss and long term weight maintenance
- Sticking to my training schedule, even if I didn't go as far as I planned, just getting out there got the endorphins going and helped me make better diet decisions

What didn't work:
- keeping candy around! Having snack food in big bags made it that much easier to grab something when I got hungry, especially when I was out of my fresh foods and didn't have time to prepare something
- Grazing, one of my biggest challenges to weight loss. I don't really eat when I'm stressed, I eat when I'm sitting around the house and I'm bored. A few M&M's here and there add up to a lot over an entire day
- Sadly, eating with Scott. We're getting better about this since he wants to drop a few pounds too, but I definitely find it harder to stick to my diet when he wants to indulge. Since he can naturally eat more than me, he doesn't always understand that I really can't share a decadent dessert with him every time we eat together. I hope this gets easier as I adapt to new eating habits.

Please feel free to share your weight loss trials and triumphs.