Week seven "progress" report

This past weekend I attended a family reunion.  Essentially that means piles of people and piles of food.  Unfortunately, I didn't really think about the impending reunion this week and therefore didn't consider the possibility that it might be difficult to eat healthily over the weekend.  So instead of gearing up, I enjoyed my regular "healthish" diet with two (ahem) "less healthy" meals during the week, went to the gym a couple times, walked like I always do, and threw myself into the weekend with reckless abandon.

The bad news?  At the reunion I ate horribly.  Well not horribly, but not particularly healthily.  I did turn down most of the desserts.  But I'm sure that I made up for it by bookending the weekend with fast food on the road.

Anyway, Saturday morning it hit me--because I've set up my weekly weigh-in on Monday, I can enjoy a "less-healthy" meal or two mid-week without breaking the momentum, but only if I'm a little stricter on the weekend and work extra hard.  Basically this weekend amounted to a monkey wrench in the works.  So I made a point of spending the better part of an hour Saturday morning on a treadmill.  Then, since I was home Sunday, I structured my food around lighter fare.

And the damage: None whatsoever.  Even in the face of a less-than-stellar week, I didn't gain anything back.  Granted, I didn't lose anything, but I didn't put any weight on either.

So I'm still down 22 pounds with no real progress over the past two weeks.  Well, no measurable progress.  But this week I went back to the gym and managed to survive a big fat family reunion without packing on the pounds, so I think that's definitely a kind of progress.  Actually kind of major progress.

Really, I still have 3 1/2 months to drop 28 pounds.  Definitely something I can accomplish.  I just need to plan things better.  Like I've said before, I'm to the point where my routine is pretty mindless.  So here's the general plan...with more specifics to come:

1. Keep eating right...be especially conscious of adding fruits/vegetables every day.  Plan the "cheating" meals better.

2. Hit the gym for strength routines 3 days a week.  This week it will be a general circuit routine to get used to lifting again, and next week I'll start targeting specific muscle groups.

3. Continue with the walking, making a point of going on a long walk (or jog) on the non-gym days.  I have a four-mile course that would work perfectly.

Today I brought my gym clothes with me.  Wish me luck...