Breaking Through (Diary of a Slacker - Fast Approaching 50 Edition)

So...I may have been overly ambitious in this endeavor -- in terms of exercise, weight loss, and certainly in terms of writing about it. (There may be a connection there.)  It's been slow going, with a bit of one-step-forward-two-steps-back thrown in. 

I haven't started running yet. I did purchase a new pair of running shoes (two weeks ago), but they're glaring at me from the closet right now. I aim to break them in this weekend. (Aim.) On a more positive note, I have been keeping up with the walking/getting my steps in. 8,000 a day minimum, which I've boosted back up to 10,000 per day the past two days. I did a rough calculation via the MyFitnessPal app and it appears that it takes approximately 23 steps to burn 1 calorie. If that is accurate, that means the extra 2,000 steps per day burns fewer than 100 more calories. Which doesn't seem like all that much bang for the buck, but it surely can't hurt. 

On the weight loss front, it's been verrrrrrrrry slow going. Weighing in every morning, I wouldn't expect to see huge drops between measurements, but there's been a good deal of up and down. Which wouldn't bug me so much on mornings when I know I over-indulged the day before but is extremely frustrating when I haven't. It's no wonder people struggle with dieting. We like seeing results! Now! 

I'll be honest - I'm not seeing them, yet. My shape is still out-of and my pants aren't appreciably looser. BUT...I have moved the needle a smidge. As of this morning, the scale says I weigh 158.7. I was seriously hoping to be about 9 pounds below that by now, but I need to give up the illusion that the Fat Fairy is just going to melt my fat cells away for me. I'm the Fat Fairy and if I've any hope of becoming the Not-So-Fat Fairy, I'm going to have to step it up. Or forward. With my nifty new running shoes.  

I am taking some encouragement from having broken the 160 barrier. My intermediate goal now is to break through the 150 barrier by the end of this month. That should be achievable if I stick with the current eating habits and ratchet up the activity level. But even if I'm only another 5 pounds down by month's end, I'll take it. Just gotta remember that slow and steady wins the race.