That there is a picture of a new recipe I tried for my breakfasts this week.  Since the recipe makes 4 servings I figured "Yay!  One recipe for 4 days of breakfast!" 

That's what it looks like before it's been chewed.

Here's how the recipe, goes:

1 cup steel-cut oats

1 cup non-dairy milk of your choice

2 T chia seeds

1/4 t ground cardamom

1/4 t vanilla

1/4 t ginger

1/4 t cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pinch black pepper

1 T maple syrup (optional)

1 T shredded coconut (optional)

1 T chopped pistachios (optional)

Combine all but the last 2 optional ingredients in a jar.  Put the lid on, shake it up, and refrigerate it overnight.

In the morning, open the jar, sprinkle in those last 2 ingredients, and

voila!

You have a jar of beautifully scented, nicely spiced, healthy, underdone, tough & chewy oats that could use a little more sweetness to ease the shuddering that occurs during swallowing.

1 serving down, 3 more to go. 

Looking on the bright side, I think when I make oats of any kind the right way (cooked beyond tough chewiness), I'll definitely use this spice blend and add some raisins.

The Official Scale today showed my weight being identical to my weight last month. 

And guess what.

Wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles, I'm absolutely fine with it.  There's nothing I would have done differently; I did my very best and I'm proud of my variety of little achievements.

I'm glad to wave good-bye to March and excited to keep up my newfound strength and habits into April and beyond.  And I'm hoping, all the way down to my toes, that I lose enough weight by April 26 that I may continue in the contest.

When the weight's coming off pretty steadily, as it did last month, it's fun to get on the scale each morning.

Plateau time?  Not so much.

So rather than start each day with a frustrating "STILL?!" I'm keeping away from the scale till Saturday's official weigh in.

In the meantime, it's nice that I'm eating less but not feeling hungry and exercising more intensely but not aching.

Every now and then I think of a future event for which I'd like to be in a better (less jiggly) shape, but for the most part I'm thinking just one day at a time. 

See?  I'm learning my lessons. 

Somewhere between work and the gym I lost my activity monitor yesterday, so I have to ask myself: Is it worth replacing?

Just like the scale is only one form of weight loss feedback, the activity monitor is only one form of activity feedback.

When it comes to activity, I like to set and achieve goals or, at the very least, to have some objective measure idea of what I've done.  Just like it's easy to wrongly estimate portion sizes, it's pretty easy to wrongly estimate activity.

I like my activity monitor, but do I need the activity monitor? 

I don't have the answer.  Just like I don't have my activity monitor.

That little bit of curiosity mixed with confidence.  Soon after I found I could keep up with zumba and not be openly mocked, I remembered how much I like group work outs.  And I started to want to add a little variety to my solo workouts.

That's how I ended up signing up for kettlebell.  And strength training.  And sampling a pilates class.

Kettlebell: I took my first class last week and knew I kept up.  Yesterday I learned from a different staff member that kettlebell class is hard one.  How about that?  I can do hard!

Strength training: Different gym = different machines.  I'd been using these new machines as well as I could based off experience from my old gym.  Thanks to taking a class on how to use these machines the right way, I'm setting the machines correctly and therefore using them more effectively.

Pilates: When I tried a class a few years ago, I really (times two) didn't like it: it was a bunch of sweating and trying to not tip over.  The class I recently tried was much more soothing.  There was stretching, there was centering, and - most important to me in any workout - there was music.  I still wasn't sure I was doing things correctly, but I'm intrigued enough to want to try again.

Given the forecasted blizzard today, there's no gym or zumba likely for me.  Fortunately, it's been so long since I worked out at home that I'm actually looking forward to a DVD with my favorite teletrainers giving me what-for. 

And for when it's safe to venture out again, group classes are waiting for me.

Able to indulge in just 1 chocolate kiss each day (while staying within my healthy nutrients range), I thought I'd be safe with mini peanut butter cups.

I thought wrong.

I learned my limitation, what a trigger and addiction feel like (I don't want to experience that ever again), and that I  can still handle indulging in one chocolate kiss each day.

In related news: I've exceeded my exercise goal for the past few days and will probably do so for the remainder of this week.  :)

One of the most emphasized, and perhaps counterintuitive, pieces of advice in a weight loss contest is: Don’t focus on the scale!

 

So here are some of my non-scale signs of success so far:

• The water: I used to only like it on me and around me; now I like it in me and I guzzle it with pleasure.

• The brown pants:  When a friend gave these to me last year, they were too snug to be buttoned and worn; now that I can slide them off without unfastening them, it’s time send them to a different home.

• The stair rail: The railing along our stairs is loose in part from all the pulling I did on it when my legs protested the burden of my ascent.  These days not only do I leave the railing untouched (for the most part), but my knee cap no longer feels like I’m prying it off with each step.  And I’ve been spotted bounding up the stairs!

• The dance: Our kitchen remains a place where food is prepped, but now it’s reclaimed its title Locale d’ Happy Dance.  Sadness and worry have been replaced by optimism and joy, as evidenced by unfettered happy dancing.  (Note: Happy Dancing attracts small people who not only increase the calories one burns, but whose giggles and laughter make a nice accompaniment to the music.)