Still on track

So, I’m still trucking. I’ve created a spreadsheet of all the food I eat and how many calories they are per servings, so I can just enter how many items of what I ate and it automatically calculates my total calories for the day. It really helps me stay aware of my portion sizes as well as shows me how making the right choices in food allows me to eat more for my calorie allowance. I learned something from a nutritionist on the Rachel Ray show on Friday, if you splurge one day don’t starve yourself the next day to compensate, because that actually does double the damage. Try to keep your daily calorie amounts consistent, and so I’m watching my daily total for that. I enter it in my spreadsheet before the next meal so I am aware of how on track I am for the day, or off track, because if I treat myself, it severely restricts what I can do for the rest of my meals that day. I also separated the sheet into food groups so I can try to get the right amount of fruits & vegetables, carbs and proteins.
As for exercise, last week was my best week yet. I met my weekly goal after my two sessions at the gym. It used to take me 4 weekly sessions at home to reach that goal. Then I had Friday off, so I went to the gym and after some treadmill and bike time, my weekly goal had been more than doubled. And I still did yoga on Sunday morning too, because I hadn’t had a chance to add it to my routine in the week and I want to do it at least once a week for stretching and flexibility. So, despite feeling ill 2 out of 7 days this week I had a really good week! However, this week marks the beginning of my third month exercising and so I’m increasing my weekly goal by half an hour to 120 min. I’m very sure I will be able to keep reach that goal though, and I still hope to exceed that goal as soon as I start adding some outdoor activities. Tami told me 20-30 min. 3-5 times per week was a good goal, so in a month from now, when I bump my goal up to 150 min., I think that's where I'll cap my goal, for ‘punishment’ and ‘reward’ purposes, but I of course will continue to take every opportunity to exercise more than that.
Last week I finally measured myself to gauge changes in numbers not just how my clothes feel. And I took a photo of myself too, which I plan on doing once a month, which will help me see results easier than what I see in the mirror each day. I didn’t weigh or take measurements of myself this week as it’s my week to retain water and get bloated, so I don’t want to get discouraged with what those results might look like. But it’s a great way to get my mind off the scale….I keep wanting to weigh myself and I have to keep reminding myself weight loss is just a secondary result. Being healthy is number one, and so I will exercise and eat better even with no results. Of course, if I’m not getting any results, I would have to question my methods and re-evaluate my plans.