I kind of felt like a traitor this morning. I am a summer baby. I am born in June, I am a child of the sun. I like my blonde tresses in the warm air. And being on the lake. I like late night campfires, and music festivals, and tent camping and being so hot, you think you might fry your hide on the pavement. I love the summer.

But this morning, I loved the cooler temperature. The tall knee socks. The leather jacket. I liked the hovering clouds, and the fresh breeze I could feel when I rolled my windows down instead of the manufactured air the AC offered.

I am a Gemini. What can I say. I’m left or right, or up or down, but always both. And today, I was a summer baby and a fall lover and now I’m also 25lbs down during Week 7 of my weight loss program.

That makes me a very happy girl, indeed.

My Coaches reminded me this morning that I am way ahead of schedule. I was guaranteed by following the program, I could lose 2lbs a week. I’ve lost 25 in just under 2 months. In 7.5 weeks to be exact. 25.2lbs to be exacter. My objective, as I’ve said before, is damage control. I’m trying to get my body back to the person it was when the “problems” started. I hovered around 185 for the majority of my adult life. That’s my first big goal. Back to 185. I’m very aware that the real work will pop up when I get there.

But, in the meantime, I’m not losing sight of the big picture. The mechanics of how my body responds. How it deals with Shark Week. When it gets lazy and needs a cheat meal. When the scale doesn’t move because I gave up on cardio for the day.

And I still haven’t cheated on the program. The desire to have “what I used to have” is curbed in figuring out how I still can. I won’t lie. My cauliflower breadsticks are not Italian Cheese Bread from Little Ceasar’s. But they’re still effing delicious. My Greek yogurt chocolate dip mix is not a snack pack. But I wanted to lick the bowl (and didn’t, but should have).

It’s been of these weeks. The one where I felt compelled to strip down to my knickers and post the progress on Facebook (til this point, I’d left it for the blogs). But 50 days into the program, and I’m starting to feel like I’m earning my life back.

My incredible, wonderful, and amazing partner is now eating along with me, which feels like show and tell. And together, we’ve enjoyed all the amazing ways you can manipulate cauliflower to mimic flour in biscuits, bread sticks, and pizza dough.

And cardio. The all-important key to any weight loss. While the science of food fuels you to putting the good shit in your body, cardio is the factor that peels back all the excess. Being back at the Y on Friday was like a homecoming.

And while Jan chides from going to hard on running, given my seeming penchant for shin splints, I’ve been gaining ground and still getting in time either on our treadmill, or out on the trails.

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Show your body who's boss. 🏃‍♀️👟

A post shared by Care ☆ (@carefulchatting) on Sep 8, 2020 at 8:23am PDT

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Family walk.

A post shared by Care ☆ (@carefulchatting) on Sep 6, 2020 at 12:37pm PDT

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I work till 730. Dinners are late. Sometimes workouts have to be, too. Make time. ⏰ You deserve it.

A post shared by Care ☆ (@carefulchatting) on Sep 2, 2020 at 6:26pm PDT

This week, I saw 204.8 on the scale. This week, I saw real change in my body, and in my spirit. I saw an endgame. I am so close to getting under 200lbs again, I can almost taste it. And no matter which way I slice it, I can’t hide from the insanity of losing 25lbs so quickly I gasped and nearly missed it. It was one thing for me to commit to myself, and now I’m learning a lesson in loyalty. Sticking out this goal to get healthy. Get it under control. Get a new lease on life.

Food this week:

And this is how we fared at the end of Week 7. 25lbs down. A half – to an inch off everywhere. And a smile, because, let’s face it. Completed goals feel good. Here’s to getting to under 200lbs.

— c ☆