The rest of the day was lovely. I even managed to take my afternoon snack (including a drink) out to the patio and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. I listened to my audio book (currently - Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich) and watched the cats chasing squirrels, moths, bees, and any birds silly enough to come close.

Food for the day:

Total: 2395 (29% fat, 34% carbs, 32% protein)

Breakfast: pecan raisin bread, jam, grapefruit (260)
AM Snack: jam(tasting while making), protein shake, almonds (366)
Lunch: whole wheat tortilla, mustard, smoked turkey, cheese, apple (497)
PM Snack: soy nuts, protein shake, red pepper hummus with veggies, pisco sour (469)
Dinner: corned beef, cabbage with tomato, butter, salad w/dressing (479)
Late Snack: cherries, protein shake (323)

Well, it’s Canada Day here, which doesn’t really mean much to me this year (another day off when they’re all days off doesn’t matter). I’ve been a busy person today. I did get my cardio in, but in three sets, as I kept stopping to do other things. I watered plants, took a few pictures, etc.

Oh, and I picked mulberries this morning (from our house and the neighbours’ - they know). This involves putting a couple of sheets on the ground under the trees and then shaking them very hard. I’ve left it a little late this year, evidenced by the multiple berries in the grass before I started. So I got a little over a pound of berries. Then, since I’m insane, I made jam.

Yes, mulberry apple grapefruit…. conserve / jam / marmalade. Who knows? I kept the amounts of fruit that I put in along with the sugar. Just in case it’s actually tasty and I want to make it again. I ended up with 4 x 1/2 pt jars. Once I’m sure it jelled I’ll take one of them next door to the neighbour whose tree I picked from this morning. She did offer last week, but I’d really like it if they picked the fruit, not just tell me that it was okay to take it.

From the HR monitor:

Well, I weighed in this morning at 293.8, which is 64.4 pounds from where I started this time, and 113.2 from my top known weight. It’s been a pretty good month, although the gardening and a bit of a mishap with my foot (much better today) kind of derailed some of my planned exercising.  So, the monthly totals.

• calories per day: 2300, calorie balance: -641 per day
• treadmill: 3h 20m, strength training: 13h 30m
• pool (various, incl. laps): 20m, BBQ assy: 1h 30m
• garden work: 4h 0m, walking outside: 3h 40m
• avg daily exercise: 53 mins
• weight lost: 8.0 pounds

Now if the end of the month hadn’t followed a lifting day I would have been around 9 pounds down for the month.  Although it varies I usually hold at least an extra pound of water after strength training days.  Oh well, that might just make July’s number better.  I just added them to the stats page if you want to compare to previous months. Now I need to think about goals for next month. I don’t set weight lost goals, as I feel I would be disappointed if I didn’t meet them. I try and set goals that will push me, but I can control if they are attainable. Although you can do certain things to help, you can’t force your body to lose weight on a schedule. So, on to the goals for July.

• Eat within plan every day (2400 exercise days (60 mins of something), 2150 rest days)
• Drink water every day (18 cups min.)
• Exercise (60 mins treadmill Tues&Sat, 60 mins strength training Mo/We/Fr)

The exercise remains the same as last month.  I was planning on changing the calorie levels but the weight loss has remained steady, even trending up the past few weeks.  So for now they’ll stay the same.  I’m planning a maintenance week, which might fall during July (haven’t decided yet).  The concept is that you shouldn’t eat at a deficit for long periods of time.  Ideally once every 12 weeks you should rest (workouts) and attempt to eat at maintenance levels.  This actually makes sense.  It gives the body a chance to repair anything that it might not get a chance to when you’re losing weight.  I’ve done slight rest weeks since I started the lifting, however, I’m way overdue on the eat at maintenance levels.  I want to see where I am on the lifting program towards the end of the month and I’ll pick a week then.  On the first day of August I’ll take a look at these and see how I’ve done.  Wish me luck!