My weight loss progress

I'm making slow but steady progress in my weight loss efforts.  (That's the kind that lasts, isn't it?)

Down 14.6 pounds as of today.  (The tracker on the side panel of this page rounds that up to 15 pounds -- I like the sound of that!)

According to the on-line program I'm using to 'keep me honest,' (www.MyFitnessPal.com) I should reach my first goal (lose 23.6 pounds) by about August 22nd -- 19 weeks after I embarked on this endeavour.  That suggests that I should have lost 20 pounds before my birthday (August 9th).

But the August 22nd date is what's important to me.  Because once I've lost that 23.6 pounds, I can start discussions with the tummy tuck doctor again (my own goal).  (John says I won't need the tummy tuck by then, my middle is shrinking so quickly.  He doesn't understand women!)

One of the most significant things that's happened for me during this process is that I have finally hit upon the required minimum 1200 calorie daily intake without using wine to reach that mark.

July 1st -- Canada Day -- was the first day it happened.  As I was tallying my intake for the day, I noticed that it was totalling 1200 calories -- and I hadn't yet factored in my wine.

"Wow," I said, "I don't need wine to make up my caloric intake today."  (I know, I know, wine is empty calories.  But until this point, if I didn't have wine at dinner time, I simply had not consumed enough calories for the day.)

Anyway, there was still a glass and a half of wine in the bottle from previous days so I decided to finish it.  (It was, after all, Canada Day!)  But I resolved not to have any more wine until the day of my birthday.  For no other reason than because my caloric intake hit the 1200 mark and it seemed like a good idea.  And my birthday seemed like a good marker to use; it was still five weeks away.

This should serve as an excellent test to demonstrate the impact that wine was having on my weight loss efforts.  (Even as bad a day as Tuesday was, I did not break my resolve and have a drink.)

Well, thus far -- ten days later -- it hasn't had any effect one way or the other. I'm still losing weight at the same rate I was when I used wine to make up those extra calories.

If this pattern continues for the next month, you know what changes I'll be making come August 9th!