I only lost 1.6 pounds this month, making my total since I started two months ago 5.8 pounds. I’m going to blame a difficult last few weeks of school, where I was stressed out, barely sleeping and eating like crap.

The upside is I’m now on break from teaching, exercising daily, eating healthy, driving less and sleeping more.

This post is part of a series of updates I’m writing as I spend the year leading to my 40th birthday trying to improve my health, rethink lifelong habits and prepare for what I hope will be a second half of life. For more information on this project, see the introductory post.

What I'm feeling like after a less than stellar month on the 40 Minus 1 overhaul. Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr user colros.

We’re one month into it, and things are going good (but not great). A lot of this is just about changing habits, and habits take time to change. In my experience it’s more often a series of fits and starts until the good habit becomes instinct, so I’m not getting too discouraged by any minor setbacks.

And, not that weight loss is the only (or even primary goal) of this effort, but the Mayo Clinic, which recommends one to two pounds per week with any healthy weight-loss regimin, says I’m right on track: as of Saturday, which marked week four of this effort, I was down 4.2 pounds total. Keep in mind there were trips to New York City and a vacation to Florida in there, so, while I’m on the low-end of the range, I’m happy.

And still keeping at it…

This post is part of a series of updates I’m writing as I spend the year leading to my 40th birthday trying to improve my health, rethink lifelong habits and prepare for what I hope will be a second half of life. For more information on this project, see the introductory post.