I thought that a weekly check-in with myself would help me assess where I’m at.

It’ll be good to go back and see what I’ve said and done.

Since I started this journey in January, I’ve legitimately lost 13 lbs.

I started at 183; I’m down to 170. Go me!

My blood pressure is in check which was a struggle this past year since my Dad’s passing.

Heart disease runs in my family on both sides, so it’s urgent that I never ignore anything related to my heart.

I did notice that if I eat a large meal, my weight goes up, but it does come down after a trip to the bathroom.

TMI, but if you can’t overshare on your blog, where can you?

Anyway I don’t know if I have an easy way to explain my weight loss.

Maybe my body’s telling me that it’s well-aware that I’ve been carrying this extra weight and it was waiting for my mind to catch up?

It’s nice to think that but I know it’s not true.

There has to be some scientific purpose.

So let me break down what I do.

I try to eat 3 square meals but the portions are much smaller.

I eyeball my portions.

I only have 1 serving.

Drinks are water, lemonade, tea, Diet Coke, or Sprite.

But I’ll never say no to a good mango drink.

I’ve made it a point to have reasonably healthy snacks on hand, like fresh fruit, cheese, and trail mix from Sprouts.

I’ve incorporated Meatless Mondays and Lenten Fridays into my “meal planning.” Lenten Fridays — anything but red meat — will probably continue being a Thing after Lent.

I should confess that I’m not fully committed to meal planning, hence the quotes.

I still fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to thinking ahead on what I’m eating for the day.

If I feel like something specific, I’ll defrost it that morning so that I can start cooking as soon as I shut down for the day from work.

As far as fitness goes, I made it a point to go to our HOA’s gym.

I walk there and back.

I set the timer on the stationary bike and go for 25 minutes.

I don’t only go to the gym though.

I try to get a few rounds in with the Nintendo Switch game, Ring Fit Adventure, during the week to keep things fresh.

I also purchased an Apple One subscription last month.

I was paying for iCloud monthly and Apple TV+ annually.

I priced out the individual offerings of Apple One: Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+ and realized the better investment was Apple One.

I’ve been enjoying keeping up with the news on Apple News since I don’t have social media until after Lent.

Although I’ve depended on iTunes since I moved into the Apple ecosystem years ago, I haven’t used Apple Music much.

I did sample the Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur soundtrack that I plan to purchase eventually.

GREAT show, by the way.

I’m picky about my music so I have to know what song is coming next.

Apple Arcade is a blast. Match-4 games are my peaceful haven and I’ve been playing Garden Tails since I discovered it. Nearly done with it; the game is addictive!

But the best offering is Apple Fitness+.

I’m deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem as I mentioned, because as I have an iPhone 13 and an Apple Watch 6.

I didn’t know this but the Roku streaming stick has an Apple AirPlay option.

So I mirror the screen on my phone to the Roku.

Game changer!

The act of exercising is a lot more fun on my projector screen.

I guess I should mention that my life changes also include combining my office with my bedroom.

I previously was setup in our loft even though it’s not a loft in the official sense.

We had a loft in my childhood home that overlooked the living room, so every house we’ve had since that has an open area is called the loft.

The loft is now our entertainment room.

I purchased a projector for a good price a few years ago and then we added a screen that attaches to the wall.

We have removable hooks so whenever we decide to build the frame, the process will be easy to complete.

The projector does the job but a sound bar will come next.

My bookshelf, office armoire, and tchotchke display case remain in the loft, due to limited space.

I made it a point to keep my desktop and laptops on different desks.

My desktop is a hand-me-down from my boyfriend and needs a good cleaning, so I can’t use it for too long or it gets overheated.

We’ll address it eventually.

My personal laptop and work laptop share the same area but I bought a cute bamboo laptop holder that holds it upright when I’m working on one or another.

Having my office back in my bedroom means downsizing.

There’s a lot of crap that I’ve been holding onto that I’m slowly finding ways to remove from my life.

Marie Kondo has the right idea.

I’m only keeping the things that bring me joy.

However, present me is afraid that future me may need something that I’ve held onto because I might need it.

I once threw away a cable that I kept for at least five years.

Guess who needed that same cable a week later?

I’m trying hard to push myself to make the decision to let things go though.

I won’t let future me stop present me from succeeding!

A good rule of thumb that I should remember as I combat my perfectionism.