Minus 9.8

I've made it a month! They wanted me to lose between seven and 10 pounds in the first month, so I'm right on target. I REALLY wanted to make it an even 10, but I didn't quite make it!

Here's what I've learned/noticed over the past week:

- The fact that some people leave a microwave timer with time still reflected on it has become infinitely more annoying since I've started using the microwave twice a day. I KNOW it only forces me to hit Clear once before I can start heating my meal, but I resent it anyway. You can thank This Diet for That Attitude.

See? Annoying, right? Couldn't they have just left well enough alone and allowed the final four seconds to count down?

- My friend Laura told me the other day that she'd heard that the first two weeks were the hardest, but it got easier from there. That once you've done something for three weeks, it becomes a habit. FALSE. Even four weeks of eating healthily does not a habit make. Four weeks of not eating sweets or True Carbs or Pringles or lots and lots of rice in one meal is not habit-forming. It only makes me want all of those things more.

- They do not make even marginally cute workout clothes for chubby people. I need a longer inseam on my shorts and tops that wick away the moisture that don't expose my muffin top. (If you have any recommendations for workout clothes, please let me know.) As it is, I look and feel like an Oompa Loompa power-walking down the street.

- If I walk 14 miles in one week, as I did this week, I will lose the same amount of weight as I did the previous week, when I walked half that distance. I do not know what I am going to do with this information, nor do I know that I am happy to have figured that out.

- I am very aware that my hunger makes me grumpy and short-tempered. This isn't a new realization. However, I am going to try to see more of the positives and fewer of the negatives. I don't want my blog or my real life to become a gripe-fest, so if you start feeling like all you get when you come here is negativity, please let me know. I don't want to bring anyone down!

So in that vein, I have to say that this is the first week out of the four that I could actually tell a difference in the way I look in the mirror. When I looked at myself this morning while I was getting ready, I could tell a very subtle (but very definite) difference in my overall shape. And THAT is a good thing.

Thanks for being here with me through all 9.8 pounds! We're 25% of the way there.