The other day, I changed my gchat status to, “Am now officially girl who sits at desk eating baby carrots.” Because honestly, keeping up the low-calorie eating throughout the days that I am stuck to my desk is difficult. I like to have something to chew on while I consider, ponder, work. It’s more of an unconscious habit, and instead of doing that with a candy bar, I’m just putting something more healthy conveniently within my grasp.

OK, so the U.S. team just won a big game in the World Cup; if they can do that, then I can keep on with my plans to get and stay healthy. I’m not even a soccer fan per se, but I do love rooting for the home team, especially when they’re the underdog.

So maybe I’m the underdog in the losing weight game. Discipline and routine are things that I really need to concentrate hard on or they won’t happen. I have still been meeting my calorie goals daily (except for a little deviation on some weekend days), but I’ve gone from working out every day to every other day or so, and I really feel the difference. It’s definitely time to go back to once a day on the exercises. I have lost a little weight, and being in that position, where the proverbial tread on the shoes holding me up from sliding right back down into the blubbery chasm makes me feel like I have a little wiggle room, I need to make myself grip the hilltop all the harder lest I slip altogether (and yes, I just used the word “lest”)

“Don’t slip, Liz.” That should be the mantra. “So you’ve lost a little weight, but that does not mean that if you drink two beers and eat a bunch of cheese that it won’t show. You’ll just be back (and bloated with heartburn) where you started.”

Not this time. Not this time, I say! You hear me self? You hear me irrational cravings? You hear me skewed sense of accountability and personal physical appearance? Can you smell what I’m cooking?

That’s right. I’m getting all drill sergeant on my own ass.

Hence, the baby carrots…and the raw broccoli, though both are great with hummus, and what’s a little hummus between friends?

I mean it’s fascinating to learn about what comprises ones daily caloric intake. It’s also a rather rude surprise to realize how little it takes to fill it. For instance, today, my calorie tracker goes something like this (and keep in mind these are only approximates in many cases):

Breakfast:

¾ cup milk: 120 calories
Cinnamon Cereal: 290 calories

Lunch:

Amy’s Paneer Tikka: 320 calories
Annie’s Bunny Grahams, Chocolate: 215.8 calories

Total: 945.8 calories according to the free tracker I use.

However, this tracker also allows me to track mundane and unavoidable daily doings in my “burned calories” column. I often track these to feel better about munching on the chocolate bunny cookies and perhaps the occasional assignation to The Cupcake Station for minis.

For instance, today’s burned calories at the moment (until I go home and work out) are:

Typing, 240 minutes: 501 calories burned. And yes, I know it’s totally lame to track one's clerical duties as exercise. I also know that it helps me feel accomplished when I see that little “calories” bar jump backwards when I enter in how much typing I do in a day. It’s more for show to myself than it is a genuine accomplishment.

Something in my methods must be working though, because this past weekend, alarmingly aware that I had no summertime work attire, I drove myself down to Target and did some shopping. You know what? Homegirl fit into a size medium dress. We are back in the green hanger zone! It felt good. I wore the dress to a baby shower on Saturday, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable in it at all. (Insert happy dance here.) As more of the things that have been gathering dust in my closet slowly slide back into focus and fit, I’m excited to keep working on the progression.

More Confessions of a (very) curvy girl will come out every other Wednesday.

You can contact Elizabeth by e-mailing her at elizabethpalmer@annarbor.com.