My Diet Stalled Out in March

My last entry was February 28th. It's been almost a month since my last entry. And interestingly, I also stalled out entirely with my diet.

How did that happen? I think this merits some examination.

I'm happy to report that I haven't gained anything since last month. But I also haven't lost anything. Maybet 2 pounds since the beginning of March. I'm at around 217 pounds. I was really looking forward to getting down to 213 by the end of this month. And that's still doable. But I need to get back on track in a big way to make it there.

So, let's see what's been going on:

1. Stress: Stress for me, and probably for many others, is a real killer of healthy eating. No doubt it's been a stressful couple of months. One of our family pets fell mortally ill and we focused on that for a month and a half, and we said goodbye to her a week and a half ago. Also work...a lot more work coming down the pike...and quite a few changes in the work situations.

2. Beer: Been going out with friends more often and having more beer. Booze blows a massive hole in the diet. The body gives top priority to filtering out the alcohol poison in your bloodstream and leaves the burning of fat for another time...or so goes my understanding of how my body reacts to alcohol. But beer has been another factor in my lack of weightloss.

3. Fantastic weather: The weather has been GREAT for March and that's making hell of my diet. I know...it seems like I'd be getting out and jogging and running and hiking...and I DO! I do all of those things....But most of all, we've been having BBQs and having friends over. And BBQs tend to mean chips and burgers and a pretty carby situation overall.

4. Eating Out: This is my FAVORITE time of year, foodwise. Here in West Michigan during the Lent season we have these things called Fish Frys where you can get a basket of fried perch or something like that for a decent price and...it's fantastic. Fried perch is a weakness of mine. I've been eating more fried stuff. Also...I've been working more so that means we have a little more disposable income, which means a bit more eating out. Bad for the caloric intake.

5. Not eating regular meals: Ironically....because I've been doing all these high calorie things, I've been trying to counteract them by foregoing breakfast in the morning, thinking I can pay my caloric pennance in the morning for my sins of the previous evening. But by noon or mid afternoon I'm very hunger and I start stuffing things into my mouth. What I need to do is get back to eating a healthy breakfast every day.

I think identifying these issues that have stood in my way this month should help me counteract them....and maybe, MAYBE, I can still get to my goal weight by the end of March.

I also need to get back to blogging here every day. That should help keep me honest.