Thanks, Mark

I whine, I complain, I try harder, I slip up, then I pretend I don't understand why the scale isn't moving.

Then I read this article, and I realized all the ways I'm not helping myself lose any weight.

Too much stress (mostly from sleeplessness), needing to watch my carbs more closely, building muscle, not really succeeding with IF, probably eating too much at meals, probably approaching my body's happy weight, not enough sleep, not enough willpower, and definitely not sprinting.

Oh, and my own personal bonus reason: Still breastfeeding. I have no objection to nursing as long as mom and baby are still happy with it, but I'm not happy with it. Baby Belle is nearing 16 months, and I've been either pregnant, breastfeeding, or breastfeeding while  pregnant for over five years. I'm done. (Problem is, I know she needs to be weaned gently, and that won't really be possible until my husband is off for summer vacation to help.) I suspect that my body is retaining a small amount of extra body fat as insurance while breastfeeding.

Whatever my reasons, I'm pretty sure the scale is not going to make me smile tomorrow. Meh, whatever. I was definitely sticking closer to my plan this week than I had been in weeks gone by, so I'm happy with that. Yes, I ate a gluten-free cupcake at the church picnic today. (I certainly didn't need it, but I wanted to test the results of my new recipe!)

I know I need to try harder this week, because the shorts I'm wearing today fit differently than they did a month or two ago - and not in a good way. What I need to do is plan in advance for the times I want to "splurge", and keep it strict the rest of the time. With a double-reception wedding coming up on Saturday, I think my "splurges" have been planned for me!