Hey do you remember that one time when I posted a weigh-in post and forgot to mention the actual weigh-in?

Well, lets just pretend like that didn’t happen… m’kay?

I’ve been getting really down on myself lately because I didn’t lose any weight all summer. I don’t know what I was actually expecting.  I didn’t do anything stupid like fall face first into a box of stale donuts and eat my way out or anything.  But, I wasn’t really on my A game either. I was in moderation land which could also be known as maintenance mode. Maintenance is great and I’m glad I found out how to do it. However, it wasn’t really the look I was going for and now I’m being mean to myself about it.

Finally, I decided enough was enough and had a pep talk with myself . I pretty much told the mean side of me to put a sock in it and proceeded to put an abrupt stop to the negative self talk. Then I found my blunder on my weigh-in post…  Seriously?

Anyway, I moved on and ended up having the best weekend.

Lately, Bridget has been complaining because I don’t buy snacky things for her to pack in her lunch. We don’t have soda or juice, we have milk and water and beer. I hardly ever buy anything that comes in a box unless it is cereal because I’ve grown an aversion to processed stuff. Yet, I didn’t really provide her any other options other than a crisper full of fruits and veggies. Her preteen brain just couldn’t wrap around it. She would try to head off to school with a sandwich and that’s it.

We decided to make a lunch box compromise. I bought bags of pretzels and veggie chips (fully aware that they aren’t as healthy as advertised) and we made our own snack packs because it was much cheaper than buying them already portioned out. What can I say I’m cheap like that… have you seen my car? ‘Nuff said.

Instead of counting out chips to find the right portion size I used my food scale and filled up the baggies until they reached the right weight. It didn’t take long at all.

It was a family affair, Bridget was on ziplock duty…

And Penelope wanted to entertain us with her table top dancing skills (again) so the chairs were sent in time out (again). Instead, she had to settle as a test taster throughout the process… She didn’t mind so much.

Another reason I don’t like processed food is because I’ll find the empty box sitting in my pantry after the last snack was grabbed. Then later on I’ll grab a can of tomatoes out of the back knocking all of the empty boxes on to the floor. This is where I curse under my breath and yell at the culprits (who aren’t listening) only to find myself doing this little dance again the next day. So, I decided to skip this part altogether and pile all of the snacks in an old paper bag for quick grabbing.

However, Penelope thought the bag could be put to better use…

We tried to hash it out but Penelope was insistent that this was where her kitty belonged so I had to get another one out…

For part of our lunchtime compromise I bought some granola bars to go with the chips and pretzels. I also bought yogurt that wasn’t loaded with sugar, cheese sticks and the usual fruit.

I gave Bridget some guidelines for packing her own lunch.  It has to have a protein (sandwich or leftovers), one source of dairy (cheese or yogurt), one snack and the rest fruits or veggies. We’re stocked up on grapes, apples, clementines, pears, bananas, berries, plums and peaches. It’s her choice. On Friday’s she can have an extra treat which I will pack as a surprise.

Later that night Bridget had a friend sleepover.

They had a blast until I cramped their style by waking them up for an early morning hike. My friend Amanda’s husband works with my husband and we decided to explore the wilderness while they were playing video games saving lives at the fire station.

The girls ended up having a blast walking and talking. They were actually too busy doing their own thing for me to take any photos of them. Penelope’s only complaint was that she couldn’t do the hiking herself. She was stuck in the carrier. But we remedied that in the end.

We let her down so that she could dip her feet in the stream. She ended up dipping her butt in it too but it was all good.

After our hike Amanda confessed that she’s lived in Colorado all of her life but never really took the time to go hiking. We decided right then that this would be our weekend ritual until it got too cold and muddy to go out.

She also told me that she had never been to the Farmer’s Market. What?!  So Bridget and I decided that we needed to show our friends how we roll on Sundays.

Luckily I had an extra pair of shorts in my back pack for Penelope so we headed over to the Farmer’s Market straight away. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a stroller with me and Penelope was tired of the hiking carrier. I wasn’t so sure how I was going to handle her while we shopped. As we walked up to the market we found an abandoned shopping cart sitting there offering its services as a solution to our stroller dilemma. So we accepted.

After we did all of our shopping we put it back where we found it so that it could help another person in need.

Overall, it was a great weekend and so far a great start to the week. Weight loss is a total mental game. Sometimes it’s hard to get on track but once you push through it things just start to fall into place. All of the things that seem so hard at first become second nature. Eventually that inner voice that tries to talk you out of the process becomes quiet and you are left with the peace of knowing that you are doing what’s best for you. One step at a time…

What did you do during the weekend?