So, okay. This is the start of the fourth week.

I am still feeling freaking awesome. I have realized that I really like walking. Something about walking kind of frees the mind. Once your body gets into a groove, your mind can just kind of…wander. Good times.

I don’t have much to report this week. In the last installment, I had set a goal of 3.5 pounds for this week. However (and the women in the audience will appreciate this, I think) I had a li’l visitor this week that caused a little weight gain. Sigh. Total loss for the week: 2.4 lbs. That makes an overall 5 pounds. Not much, but still encouraging.

Not next week but the following is the end of the first month. My goal is to be at 10 pounds loss by then, and I will officially measure again at the first time, to see the loss in inches. Hopefully it’s encouraging.

In other news, I lost my pedometer and only just recovered it today. I went karaokeing last week, and of course I wore it, much to the amusement of my friends. While I was talking to the karaoke host, I was of course gesticulating wildly, and the damn thing flew right off and landed on the floor. Some guy asked me if it was a tape measure. Red-faced doesn’t even cover it.

I then had to get into a conversation with the guy about it being a pedometer, which of course he thought was really cool, and I just thought was embarrassing.

But. I am still sticking with it. Up the stairs once, down twice today. Woot!

Lastly, I leave you with a recipe I got from the Food Network guy last week. Apparently it’s totally low in calories, and supposed to be super high in energy and other stuff you need every day:

Granola Bars

8 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
1 1/2 ounces raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
3 ounces sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 ounces wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
6 ounces honey, approximately 1/2 cup
1 3/4 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
1-ounce unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 1/2 ounces chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.