Went to Mt. Airy NC yesterday just to get away for a day. Saw the "Whittling Wall" and took a short walk on the "Greenway" a nice trail that follows the river around the town. Today we stopped at Pilot Mountain State Park on the way home but the sky was very hazy so the views were not great. I enjoyed walking in the park anyway. Of course when we ate dinner last night at Cracker Barrel I overdid it and ordered the country fried chicken dinner -- too much breading which I just nibbled on but I ate all the meat. We'll see how much that affects my weigh in tomorrow.

@rachelrjh hi! Glad you liked the post. Right now in the evening I’m doing a miceller water cleanser, toner, eye cream, hyaluronic acid based skin serum, and moisturizer. I do the same in the morning but sub out the serum for a retinol based skin oil.

For products I just go to Walmart since I’m on a budget; I cant recommend anything specific for you since we have different skin problems but I’ve been enjoying doing the above routine for several months. I found it from an Instagram post. Lol.

This morning I realized Cameron's coffee is now commenting on my lifestyle choices...






It's been that kind of year...

This was expected. I gave in to my urges yesterday, and ate way too much, and didn't stop eating. My body was put through a lot of stress on Tuesday, but not enough to warrant eating extra pretzels and extra chocolate chips and extra crackers and extra cheese and alcohol and a heavy cream based dinner and and and and and and...

Maybe it'll be better tomorrow. I'm writing a blog post and hoping my post-blog whoosh comes through to save my sanity.

Food:

As I said above, my eating has not been great this past week. I'm working on it, and since my stress levels have drastically decreased, I am definitely more likely to stick to my good habits. There's not much else to really say on the topic.

Exercise:

Outside my horrific self control issue with food this week, I have been pretty on top of my workout routines. After taking Monday off (for vaccine recovery), I did three classes (one spin, two resistance) on Tuesday, took a rest day yesterday, and did a spin class this morning (with one resistance, and one spin, class planned for after work). One spin class tomorrow morning, and I'll play the weekend by ear. Given the gorgeous weather Cleveland is expecting this weekend, I'm sure I'll end up going for a long walk to soak up the sweet, sweet sunshine.

Mindset:

This past week has been nothing but back and forth phone calls with my neurologist, my medical insurance, copay assistance programs, and the manufacturer of my MS drug medication. The free drug program I've been in for the past year is coming to a close, and it caused nothing but confusion between all of the aforementioned parties. So, of course, they kept calling to confirm information about my diagnosis and medication usage and my income levels every time my doctor shifted my prescription to find something that could be covered.

For reference, my MS medication has a $1300+ copay, and switching to any alternative medication would require going to the hospital to get an infusion or regular injections or taking a pill that would drastically shift my eating habits... and all of those options are less effective medications. I'm sure you can imagine just how frustrated I've been.

But I'm doing a reset. I think. And I'm hoping to see a loss tomorrow morning, but I'm going to stay realistic about it, since I know I'll likely have some water bloat tomorrow morning after all of my activities planned for tonight.

@rachelrjh yikes that looks like it hurt
@KristieJC @minstrelofsarcasm 1300???? I'm sorry.

Weigh in day for me today:
Week:5
Weigh-in day: Thursday
Previous weight:190.0
Current weight: 189.4
Weekly steps 21,256

Still under a lot of stress. Not getting enough sleep but trying. A little bit of sunshine this week. Going to get my BMI calculated before next weigh in. I hope that it explains what's happening...

Rachelrjh
Friday weigh in
Pw 162
Cw 158 lbs

I finished the month strong. How? Last weekend I did a 43 hour fast. Not because I could, but because I was literally so upset from my job (high school teacher) that I had no appetite at all. I took advantage of the situation so I tried the 2 day fast. It was the first time I’ve ever tried it. It works, but I don’t recommend doing it more than once per month. I was drained the rest of the week even with my calories averaging about 2000 per day this week. Today, I finally have my energy back to normal. I’m not sure I have the will power to not eat when I’m hungry. Like I said the only way I was able to do it was because I had no appetite at all due to how angry I was. I’m amazed that people like Jimmy Kimmel can do IF diets like the 2-5 diet. Now, I can see how it gives real results.

Weigh in day: Friday
Previous weight: 134.4
Today's weight: 135.6
Weekly Steps: 46,865

Alright...I'm back in challenge team for May. My starting weight is higher than I'm happy with...209.7... .5⬆ from last week but that is totally because a) it was that sort of week (do okay for a couple days...RAMPAGE!...do okay...you get the idea) and b) something is up digestively...once I get that worked out (so to speak) I think things will be better.

You have a new member joining you ......Please welcome @kaj848