Overly critical

I know that I've talked a lot about the weight loss and stuff that I've been going thru, so fair warning - this is one of those posts.  It's interesting what the mind does to me when I'm stuck on a plateau (when weight loss stalls and sometimes fluctuates between the gaining and losing the same 5 lbs).  Lately I've been way overly critical of my lumps and bumps.  I know some of it is just that I'm frustrated that nothing seems to be moving - the easiest gauge of weight loss is the scale, right?  So if the scale hasn't moved the 'right' direction for a couple months, it's disheartening.  That being said, there is plenty of science to why I should not give up and go back to eating 3x a day (not that that's on the table here, fasting is actually good for me considering it's the lazy way to lose).

The things that the body does (cleaning out the cells, feeding on fat, etc) is still happening, even if the scale is being rude and stuck.  That being said, I am going to stop drinking for a while to see if that helps things get back on track.  I mean, the end of Lent was when I was at my lowest, so I figure that must be the catalyst I'm looking for.  So for the next month I'm going to be wine and beer-less.  I've already decided that drinking hard liquor needs to be a thing of the past for me - too hard to tell when I've had enough until it's too late.  I did have fun shopping and getting some new things.  I have a new favorite skirt that looks amazing.  Pix will come at the end of the week - I'm planning a post of the outfits of the week.  Anyway, I just had to share because it's getting to the point where it's too easy for me to look in the mirror and focus on the parts that I'm annoyed with (mostly thighs and a couple deposits on my hips).  I know these areas are going to be the last to go - I just want them gone NOW!  Historically if I look at my loss it's been 55 lbs the first year, 30 lbs the second year, and if I get another 20 during the third (this) year, I can't really complain too much.  Patience is a virtue, right?

That's enough complaining.  In other news, Jess got me to download a new video chat app so we can send each other video messages.   I'm really loving that - I get to see my bestie more now!  The only bad thing is it's making me miss her even more!!  She also talked me into joining Instagram.  For those of you who don't know, it's a photo sharing app.  I do like taking and sharing pix, so I'm enjoying that as well.  In case you are wondering, my username on that is mandi.not.tall - hehehe.

Otherwise it's teaching as usual - the kids are in the classroom, which is nice.  N Korea seems to be in a mood, but so far that hasn't affected us.  The good news for people back home is that we are really close to two US bases here (one Army, one Air Force), so if ever getting us back to the US is a military priority, it will happen.  Part of me just wants to say 'really, 2020 - everything else wasn't enough, now we have N and S Korea getting up each other's butts?  Not to mention the Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese fighting over some land (J informed me of that one).'  At this point, I'm ready for alien abduction, moving to an island and becoming a bartender, or disappearing into the mountains and seeing what happens.