Week 31 and I’m back from the south! Not sure if Tennessee is considered the Deep South or not, but it feels like it. Either way, I’m back! As I feared, traveling did mess with my program, no matter how careful I was about eating! I gained 3 lbs the first day, and it just kept going up from there till I got home. I’m pretty much back where I started at the end of last week, though. Whew! Travel is hard on the weight loss program!

Pounds lost: 49.8

% to super goal: 39.5%

Still doing the damn thing!

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Travel and Weight Loss

It’s clear to me that traveling in and of itself has a detrimental effect on this whole losing weight thing. I think something about it makes me retain water. Maybe all the airport and restaurant food is loaded with sodium or something. Because even though I met my calorie budget every day, and met my step goal every weekday, I still steadily gained weight every day till I came home. At which point it all seemed to just melt off. I was drinking as much water as when I’m home but maybe I needed to drink way more to counteract the effects. I also wasn’t getting as many hours of sleep as usual. 

What I think this shows is that even more than exercise, it’s what (and how much of what) you eat and drink, and how well you’re taking care of yourself in other ways that affects your progress. I know that lots of times, we think, “okay, time to lose weight, better hit the gym!” And obviously, that helps. But just exercising by itself won’t cut it. It really is true, I believe, that losing weight is 20% exercise and 80% what you eat, drink, sleep, etc. You can’t expect to lose weight without changing some of those habits. 

Because Snacks

Which sucks, because it’s hard! Case in point, the other thing I struggled with this week was alcohol and snacks. Because it was a work trip, there were a few dinner outings, and of course, drinks here and there. I forced myself to skip one of the dinners so that I wouldn’t be tempted (plus I had a bunch of work to do). On one hand, I’m proud of myself for not giving in to temptation. And on the other hand, I wish I would have spent that time with my teammates. I did get some quality time in though!

I think once I’m in “maintenance mode” it will be a little easier, because I won’t be trying to maintain a calorie deficit. I’ll still need to pay attention to what I’m doing, but it won’t be quite as much of a stretch. I hope. I guess I’ll know when I get there!

Up Next!

In other news, I seem to be recovering well from the surgery. My incisions are mostly healed up and most of the glue has flaked off. Jeans are still uncomfortable because they go right across my belly button but I have hope for next week!

The other challenge for the upcoming week will be, of course, Thanksgiving. I will be cooking so much stuff and it will be challenging not to eat too much! I think I found some good healthy(ish) recipes though, and if they also taste good, I’ll share them (and pics!) next week. Hope you had a great weekend and have a wonderful week!

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