Apr. 2 -- HALFWAY POINT.

Half-way point.  Down 4.2 lbs since Feb 1.

I was trying to get to a steady 129 by Apr. 1, but am holding steady at 130.

Bummer, but, I am coming off the most gluttonous weekend I've had in ages.  Many amazing, delicious, rich, fatty, sugar-filled birthday treats from Fri-Sun.  And, throughout that weekend, I stayed steady at 130.  I tried to offset the orgy with lots of water and exercise.

So, countdown to June continues.  Goal is 125 by June 1.  And, more importantly, more strength and enhanced fitness.

My running game is coming right along.  Ran a hilly 4.15 mile course last weekend, and an even tougher 3.1 mile course this week.  Major goal is completing the courses without stopping.  Successful on the last two runs.

Half way pics have some subtle difference.  A little less flab, a little more muscle.  Still not where I want to be.  Post-babies, my toughest section is right above belly button to right below butt cheeks.  Work in progress.

Daily goals: WATER, MICROMOVEMENTS, SLEEP.

Sleep, you tricky beast.  I haven't slept through the night for five days, and before that, who knows.  The science is clear between sleep and weight loss.  This is a tricky variable that is going to impact the loss of these last five pounds.  Gotta keep the other variables as tight as possible.

While allowing for nightly red wine.  Let's not get crazy.

Mar 24.

What a whirlwind.

Took a week off for period time. There is no sense in tracking weight during that time. It futile and frustrating.

Weight is stuck at 130, despite frequent exercise and pretty damn clean eating.

A couple impacting factors:

NEED MORE WATER

NEED MORE SLEEP

Seriously. These two pieces are huge. I can control the water, and some days are much better than others. But SLEEP. UGH. Two small kids + child's medical issues = 6/7 interrupted nights of sleep per week. Seriously interrupted.

Lack of sleep = fatigue = sluggish energy = minimal eating = slower metabolism, etc. It's a vicious cycle. And totally outside my control.

So, I have to dig deeper to shake these last five pounds and make more muscle. Half-way photos are in 9 days. I need to be at 129 steady by Apr 1.

Changes:

WATER (64oz per day)
No booze for the next three nights
Limit drinks to two for Fri (Ringside date night); one for Sat (bday); one for Sun (more bday); NONE next Mon, Tues.
Make sure that meals are tried-and-true equation: protein + healthy fat + veggies

Mar. 9

Weight was down to 129.8.

Then the weekend happened and it's back up to 130.2. Not bad at all for a night at the Timbers game, complete with beers and sausages, and a family dinner with ample potato salad, steak, and wine.

Today:

Vitamins
Coconut milk latte
Protein bar
Banana

Nuts
Dried fruit

Meat
Salad
Avocado

Grapefruit

Chicken stiryfry
Two glasses red wine

It was a workday today, so little movement. But the weekend was full of exercise. Back to strength bursts and walking tomorrow.

Mar. 4

Weight: 130.2. Back in action.

Yesterday:

Vitamins
Coffee
Protein bar
Banana

Two slices lunch meat

Eggs
Carrots
Grapefruit
Hummus

Almonds

Chicken stir fry over cauliflower "rice"
One glass red wine

11,000 steps. Day was busy and active. No strength training, though. So today I will complete 30 push-ups, 50 crunches and 2 planks before bed. I would like to do more, but I finally got my kids' cold, so this is a reasonable goal for the day.

Mar 3.

Weight: 131.4

Yesterday:

Coffee
Vitamins
Eggs, spinach, sausage, olive oil
1/2 grapefruit

Protein bar
Banana

Nuts
Small serving dried fruit
Sweet potatoes with coconut oil
Carrots

Two slices lunch meat

Chicken and veggie stirfry
1.5 glasses red wine

Decent amount of water

Still need to up the water.  Also, I'm stuck around this 131lb point.  I'm going to cut out the coconut milk lattes for a while (I only have about 2-3/week, but that's still a decent amount of sugar).

Overall, diet is pretty solid (paleo-based) most days.  It's the regular exercise that's the killer.  Days off work - lots of activity and movement.  Days at work - next to none.  Need to balance that out.

Started at 134 and change.  Goal is 125 by June 1.  Half way point is Apr 1.  So I'd like to be down to 129 steady by Apr 1.  Shouldn't be a problem.

Life got bananas so I stalled on the blogging.  Sure enough, stalled on the progress.  As Steve and Tim Ferriss say, "What gets measured, gets managed."

Feb. 22

Weight: 800lbs

No clue, really. Just finished period (TMI), which means water retention should be gone. I was at 130lb yesterday morning. That's 4lbs lost, 5 more to go. But then I blew it up last night with five cocktails, chicken tenders, fries, etc. It was a splurge date night and it was amazing. In the effort to "live outside the box," I tried marrow and it was delicious. Check.

Today was complaint. Healthy eating throughout. It started with a one-hr Barre3 class and was filled with regular bursts of activity throughout the day. Tomorrow starts a fresh week and no big diet-crashing social events in the near future. I see some real gains from a few lbs lost and new muscle. Need to harness that momentum and keep going.

Goal to start tomorrow with an outdoor run. Hubs and I are registed for the Shamrock 8k in March and the Rock n Roll 10k in May.

Days 14-17.

Weight: no clue. It's point less to weigh during period time.

It was a crazy weekend of socializing, which meant eating and drinking outside the lines. Not to excess, but certainly not in line with my overall goals.

Back to it this past Monday. I've had lots of healthy eating and exercise during the past two days.

Both girls sick, again. This winter has been insane. Insane. Little sleep, little time.

But our trip to AZ is set for mid-April, so no excuses. It's go time.