Reflecting

I recently scheduled my annual physical exam for May 1st, just something I needed to do, as my last one was a year ago in April. I always reflect on the year that has passed since my last physical, because it's a concrete way of tracking some progress. I weighed 157 pounds at my last physical. Sadly, it has been some time since I have seen the 150's on the scale. I was doing so well until last summer when I relaxed my diet a little too frequently. I'm convinced the move toward menopause and medications haven't helped, but I should have fought harder to not lose my footing, but I fell into procrastinating a fresh start, where I was certain future me would be so dedicated that I would crush my goals. So I started realizing how soon May 1 will be here and how I want that physical to go. I am pretty sure I can't get back into the 150's by then, but I'd be OK with 165 or less. I'm going to try to get the scale moving in the right direction again. Monday I weighed in at 171.6 and today 170. Baby steps, LOL. I did something yesterday that I loathe doing, I tracked my food. I had done an intense HIIT workout and found myself hungry after I'd eaten my two meals for the day, so I got all the numbers together and found out I was only eating 1,100 calories. That is definitely not enough for an active adult, and not enough to put my body through an 18 hour fast. I also fell shorter than expected on both my fats and protein goals. So I ran to the store and got more food, some shaved ham, hot dogs, and green olives. I am adding these to each of my meals to make sure I'm getting enough fuel to support these new muscles I'm making with my Peleton challenge. I am glad I actually took time to figure out my macros and calories, it's a necessary evil. My carbs are lower than I expected at about 30 grams a day, and I have noticed that when my carbs are low and my ketones are in charge, I have more energy and just generally feel better physically. In the weekends when I eat carbs, I feel so lethargic and bloated. I am still doing good on my Peleton 100 days in a row challenge. I got the sad news from my company that only 11% of employees were using the benefit, so they aren't going to pay for it anymore after March 31. I was a little depressed about it when I realized this would be before the end of my challenge, and I have kind of gotten in the habit of using the app first thing in the morning. I wasn't sure I wanted to pay for another subscription, but then I realized that I can get a whole year for $129, which is way less expensive than most gyms. So, even though they do offer some free classes on the app, I have decided I'm going to buy a year and see if I stick to it. If I find myself slacking and not using it, I'll drop it after a year. As of today, I have done 80 days in a row of Peleton classes. I am pretty proud of that! I am looking forward to seeing what I can do before May 1st, it will be a great healthy push toward starting summer off on the right foot. I have a very posh event in August whereby I have to hobnob with people who register to bid on my art. It's a street art project in a tourist town where wealthy people from Chicago come to stay and shop. The event I'll be appearing at is for just those who register to bid on the street art. It is in a swanky location with wine and horderves and its basically to meet and greet with the artists. I am socially really shy and self conscious, so I will want to make sure my weight doesn't add to my self-consciousness. Spouses aren't invited so I will be extra uncomfortable but I will fake it. The last time they did this project there were 26 eggs (the village is called Egg Harbor so that's why we paint egg shapes) the total bids were $95,000 so this is a higher end than the big fish I painted last year for a neighboring city. I am also doing sailboat sales for that city. They will stand 6 feet tall when mounted into their stand. It's going to be a busy but fun summer and I'm so ready for it!