Busy

I've really fallen off blogging on here and its not intentional, I have just been busy, as usual. I have been working hard on my art. Besides the giant fish project, I also recently completed a bigger project for another nearby city (painted a two-sided banner to be hung on the city lampposts) and did 2 large mock ups for a different city project where (if selected) I will paint a giant egg to be auctioned off next year in an upscale tourist town. I also did a very busy farmer's market last weekend. I was nervous because it's been nearly a year since I've done any events selling my art and its in a nearby tourist city. I did OK, I sold a bunch of small painted stones, but I got so many compliments and people stopping by to say hi or tell me a story that cake to mind while they looked at my work. I love that! My dad surprised me by driving 200+ miles to come say hi and buy my biggest piece of art! How sweet was that?! And as he was walking around with it (looking at the fish I painted) someone asked if they could see the art he bought and when they saw it they took a photo, saying their friend owns an art gallery in the area and might be interested in selling my work. Oh and I will be the featured artist at an event in my own town in September,it's an awesome witchy type apothecary and crystals shop. She said after the show I can keep some art in the shop to sell. So all big things where my art is concerned. I still have 4 more vendor events this summer, so it's a good way to gauge how much effort I want to invest in in-person events. The set up and tear-down are so exhausting, but I know it's worth it for the networking aspect alone. plus, I spent a fair amount of money on all my display items/tables/booth/wall, etc, so I need to get some use out of it. Here's a picture of me in my booth last Saturday.

As you might imagine, since art has been on my brain, I'm not super focused on making big changes with my diet. I have done really well with sticking to 2 meals a day for 3 weeks now, with the exception of the weekends when I eat 3 meals. I have not made huge changes to my weekends. I am typically having a non-keto meal on Friday, then Saturday and Sunday I cook a family meal and those are typically pretty healthy but often include rice or potatoes, both of which I have been indulging in on the weekends. So as I stepped on the scale this week ans it showed me 154, 152,157 (what the heck?)153,I wasn't surprised. My friend recently sent me a video clip of motivational speaker Dean Graziosi and it basically said that if you're not getting the results you want, you don't want it enough/you aren't putting in sufficient effort to get what you want. I blew it off when I watched it, but recently as I started to question if my body has reached its "natural set point" I remembered that video and I know I can get my weight to go lower if I put more effort in, less higher-carb meals on the weekends, less packaged keto bread (so convenient, but it can definitely spike sugars which works against weightloss) more exercise. There's always room for improvement. The funny thing is, I never really had a number in my head for a goal weight, this wasn't about the scale at all when I started, it was about not liking what I saw on my labwork and not assisting fate to leas me to diabetes,heart attack or cancer, which all run in my family. Still, when I thought about this being my end weight, I didn't feel disappointed. I have lost 55 pounds and went from a morbidly obese BMI, down to just overweight. I feel healthier, look better and have more energy. If this is where Mt body stays, I'm perfectly OK with that. Wanting a lower number on the scale is a conditioned response to the "diet mentality" that's been drilled into our brains since Twiggy and Tab Cola were all the rage. I spent most of my life wishing to be anyone else but me, an awkward girl in a too-big body. Now, even at a this size and shape, there's no one else I'd rather be! It's never been about the number on the scale, it's about being happy in your skin, in your life. I wish 12 year old me knew that.