End of the academic year

Well, it's that time again...the end of the academic year.  What does that have to do with losing weight?  Well, increased stress and celebration lunches/dinners and decreased time to fit in a workout.  Strangely, I'm actually feeling a lot more motivated recently.  In the past few years, it's about this time that I struggle to finish all the work I have to do because my brain is just fried.  Perhaps my earlier struggle with motivation paired with my mental renewal in Florida have combined to make this a strong end for me.  There's tons of work to get done, but I feel like the stress is much more manageable than usual.

Now, that's not to say that it's going to be easy...the sheer number of celebrations at the end of the year (most of which have amazing food at them), is a little daunting.  I'd already had two before this week and I had a reception yesterday, a dinner tonight, an etiquette dinner tomorrow, plus a luncheon next week.  Now, my bank account is certainly thankful for the free delicious food, but it means less control over how that food is prepared.  I'm managing my best by trying to make good choices, being realistic about if I WANT or NEED more food, and trying to behave when it comes to dessert.  That certainly doesn't mean avoiding them altogether...it means limiting how much and making sure that I get in workouts to help make up for them. 

Thankfully, I was able to get in my run on Sunday - 5 miles!!  It got interrupted a few times by duty calls, but thankfully nothing too serious that I wasn't able to just answer a few questions then pick my pace right back up.  My lungs were a little angry with me immediately after, but that's something they've got to get used to if I'm going to be running outside more.  It's certainly much more interesting than running on the treadmill.  It's strange that when running outside I don't feel like I'm running any faster than on the treadmill, but the last two times I've done it I've logged my fastest mile and my fastest 5k...maybe it has something to do with not having to alter my stride to match the treadmill.  I don't know, but I'm certainly not complaining!

Check out how I managed this week...

Initial weight: 257.2
Week 66:-2.2
Total weight loss: -57.4
Current weight:199.8 (and I'm back under 200!!)