KeithBartlett.com

      I had intended to spend Thanksgiving alone which would have made it much easier to stick to my diet. However, when I made the decision to accept an invitation to a friend's home for the holiday I had no idea I had such an amazing dinner ahead of me. It was worth every extra calorie to enjoy a Thanksgiving spread that veered just enough from the norm to still LOOK like Thanksgiving but tasted like so much more. The delicious meal plus the company of a very wonderful family made it one of the most special Thanksgivings I've had in years. Having had a sampling of everything that was presented it's amazing that I'm only up a pound!     No cheat day this week. I'm hitting the weights and eating right. See you at sub-169 next week!

      All right! I feel like this train is back on the rails.  This is down exactly 25 pounds in 6 months.     If I can lose 25 more in the next 6 months that will put me in a normal BMI range and right where I want to be.     After being stuck at 171 for three weeks I made a few small adjustments back to what I was doing on my way to 171.  Those changes were all in my diet.  I went to Costco and bought lots of salad ingredients and cartons of blueberries. For my main meal of the day I've been having a 4 egg, spinach, and feta omelet. I'm mixing fresh blueberries into my Greek yogurt. During the three weeks of holding 171 I was snacking on peanut butter throughout the day. There are a lot of calories in those tablespoon helpings of extra crunchy peanut butter so I've eliminated that.  I also stopped my daily two cups of coffee and triple blonde shot, sugar free vanilla, oat milk latte.  As of today I am completely off of caffeinated drinks.     Can I reach 166.x next week? 

     For the third week in a row I'm stuck at 171. The silver lining here is that i am down 23 pounds in total. With that said I can clearly see the deviation from my eating and exercise habits that were working so well.  Perhaps this week I'll get back to those.  

 

      When I saw the wheels stop on 171.4 today I was unimpressed. It is the lowest number of the year, however, it's only down 4 pounds for the month. A few minutes later, for some inexplicable reason and despite my disappointment in the number, I grabbed my 34 waist jeans from the drawer.  These are Levi's I haven't been able to wear for about a year and a half.  If they didn't snap it was only going to ruin the mood more. But, when I closed that top button my day was made. Bam! I am back in my pre-pandemic clothes. I am within easy reach of my intermediate goal of 166 by Thanksgiving. I felt so good about the pants that I decided that I earned a cheat day. I had my favorite Starbucks fall treat that I have so far avoided for this entire Pumpkin Spice Latte season: the Pumpkin Scone. Of course, I carved out most of the scone and ate the icing. It's like eating a cupcake; I rip the top off and throw the cup away. More icing please!       When I hit that coveted 166