Moving

(New but cheap) dress and leggings and short boots.

My pants don't fit!  I mentioned that before, but it's really a thing. I told everyone at work I made a resolution to wear more dresses (HA!). I had to break my no-spending vow to buy some clothes - I went on the internet, scored big with sales, but NONE OF THEM FIT ME! I've grown more than I realized, and it's not my swollen knee. I returned them, and tried again at another site in a bigger (gasp) size. Due here Thursday. Till then, dresses or yoga pants. It's cold out, so I'm experimenting with leggings and boots.

It's driving me nuts not to know what's happening on the scale. I'm focusing on how I feel and how things fit. I'm moving a lot more than the past few months. I'm able to get out of the building at lunch and walk on the generally deserted mall. I've given myself a pass on walking the dog at night when it's dark, cold, and/or precipitating. (I have a large fenced yard for his basic hygiene.) "Move" to me means to keep moving as much as possible in every possible way (including chores such as bill-paying) but it also means literally, My fitbit tracks how many hours I get at least 250 steps in an hour, and I've been doing much better during this shutdown. The pace of work is totally different - few meetings, phone calls, or emails - but each is complex and multi-faceted as we move into uncharted territory for the government. But I have to be much more self-disciplined on how to spend my time because there are few immediate deadlines and always other considerations. So I walk more in the building, and it helps me think.

I know that exercise is not the way to lose weight, and yet it's key to losing weight. I'm trying hard to feel what I eat, feel what I'm hungry for, and go all in on mindfulness. I am tracking what I eat - daily - but not in any cumbersome tracking system, just mentally tallying it a few times a day, and always in the context of whether it's satisfying and if I need or want something else. So no vows of what not to eat, but thoughtful decisions in the moment. All in my ideal. And without daily feedback on whether the approach is having an effect on the number on the scale, I have to get feedback from how I feel.

I think exercise will be helpful in getting my pants back on. I'm thinking toning, building muscle, not weightloss. So MOVE remains my motto.