144 I lost 2.6 Pounds Yesterday

I lost 2.6 pounds yesterday. Yes, I was trying to watch it and not gain, but no, I hadn't set out to lose that much. I chalk it up to basing my meals on vegetables and fruits now -- NOT on grains like bread, crust, rolls, spaghetti -- and NOT on starches like rice or potatoes.

We walked the dogs all over the park yesterday, picking up aluminum cans to recycle and trash to put in the waste bins. It was raining, so we had on plastic panchos. The dogs were super confused. Usually, we walk laps around the park. This time, we concentrated on the picnic tables. The dogs guessed we were looking for table scraps, and they found plenty. My arms are still sore from pulling my dog away from all those extra calories. He doesn't need them any more than I do.

Anyway, I guess we were outside getting exercise for an hour: walking, squatting, bending, lunging and pulling against resistance from 70 pound dogs.

Here is what I ate yesterday and lost 2.6 pounds, along with an hour of squats, lunges, bending, walking and pulling 70 pounds:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk

One beef and bean burrito with 4 tablespoons salsa

Three eggs scrambled in bacon grease with red bell pepper and onion -- with 2 strips of low sodium bacon

Usually, when I have lost 2 pounds or more I have lost water weight from eating too much sodium the day before. Not this time. This was fat from eating 3 donuts at church on Sunday and then birthday cake and nachos at a party Sunday evening. I expected the fat to come off, just not all in one day!

When I was fat, physical activity was a drag. Yesterday, come to think of it I also went up and down our basement stairs about 20 times doing laundry and moving empty boxes down there for storage.

Going up or down stairs even one time was a chore when I weighed 240 pounds and wore a size 20. Today, weighing 149.9 or less and wearing a size 8, stairs are no problem. In fact, just now I got excited and went to burn off some excess energy on our Lifestyler stair step exercise machine. I was on there two minutes and didn't even get sore or tired. I just burned off some excess energy. That is right. Now that I am in relatively good shape, I have extra energy!

We buy the low sodium bacon and these El Monterey burritos at Costco. When I was fat I would eat two or even three burritos at one sitting. Now, I pay close attention to the portions on packaged food. I only eat one portion at a sitting. If I am still hungry 20 minutes later, then I eat some raw baby carrots or a cucumber sliced up with balsamic vinegar as dressing.

Thank you for reading this. The main reason I am blogging my diet and exercise is to keep myself accountable. Knowing it is out there for the world to read and that everyone I know can see it keeps me on my diet and exercise program. I am thrilled to hear from those of you who felt inspired by my weight loss and started diet and exercise programs of your own. That is icing on the cake, as they say. :)