I’d love to say that I’ve lost 15lbs since Christmas, but I waiver between 198 & 200lbs on the daily, and I can not seem to get under 198lbs for any length of time. Smaller portions, and reduced snacking, and an increase in movement (walking the dog) have helped out. But sheesh. Plateaus suck. I didn’t want to have to spend money, but I might actually need to get to a gym for free weights, and increased periods of movement.
I have not swam as much as I was doing in May/June/July, and haven’t used my bike, nor long board at all in recent weeks. I had high hopes for getting some use out of that stuff this year. Being trapped elsewhere without my stuff makes it hard to accomplish. On the other hand I have paddle boarded and wrangled massive tubes behind the boat nearly every day, so… I’m not entirely motionless. Bugs here are still bad so not walking the first trails at all either, which is a shame. I look forward to that in October/November when all the mosquitoes and black flies, deer flies, and horse flies are dead.
I should probably get a count on what calories I consume in a day. That might tell me something useful. I was doing time on the elliptical here. I did 3 mins, 5 mins, 10 mins, and then 21 mins respectively. I used the tower once, and have been squatting with the weighted bars, but nothing like a routine has emerged. The elliptical feels more like an odd stepper, than a running gait. Makes my hips tight. The travel on the paddles isn’t long enough, like running with shoe laces lightly tied together. Must take some getting used to. I prefer running on the track by our house with my kids. But that’s outdoors in the heat and full sun of the day. Sweat city! Drenched and smelly.
So I need a better plan. Yes smaller portions are good. More vegetables is a smart choice. More water, less soda & juice as fluid intake will help. But I need to create a much larger deficit between what I take in, and how much energy I put out over the course of a day. Would a step counter activate me to walk, do more? Maybe, but again i don’t want to go spend any extra money. Feeling cheap. And I’ll tell you why.
A client emailed me privately to say they had been laid off, so now I don’t know if I have lost that client as a whole, or if it’s just that both of my regular contacts are gone, or have moved on. That stresses me out a bit. They were pulling back on work over the last eight months, but design ebbs and flows, so not everyone is in a heavy growth pattern all year, every year. That dip felt normal to me. Guess not.
That could potentially be client number two who dropped me this year. Well, the first was taken over and bought out, bringing all design in-house, little I could do there after I sold all my working files to them. Fine. But this one hits different, as they were my third largest client. I haven’t heard anything official yet, but no news, and no further projects might spell that out plain as day. You know? Right. I could be worried about nothing. I’ll have to wait and see.
In September I’ll reach out to other clients and see if they need any help. Get the ball rolling out & about once more that I have bandwidth for more/new work. Sounds like a plan to me. Sold!
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 