...and to myself, too.

Because, you know, a friend won't tell you only what you want to hear. A true friend will tell you the truth. So...please don't take this personally. Think of this as me leaning across the table and whispering to you, "Friend, you've got a tiny bit of spinach caught in your teeth."

It seems like a lot of my MFP friends started a healthier lifestyle program about the same time as I did. I'm not a "New Year's Resolutioner"...I just so happened to start my experiment in January. It looks like the Holidays inspired a lot of my MFP friends to begin around the same time.

And I've got to tell you, here in our sixth month together? We're not doing all the same things we were doing when we started. And my progress - or lack thereof - is showing it.

You know what I'm saying, right? You are logging in and recording your food, but are you logging everything? Do you find you're taking more "days off"? Do you find yourself saying more and more, "It's just one day...no big deal...I can get back on track tomorrow..." Do you weigh yourself and say, "I'm not recording this gain. It's not real," and not using your food journal to analyze why the gain happened? Are you finding that you're not as resourceful as you were when you started...constantly thinking of ways to do more and be healthier all the time?

All of these things are okay. They're not the end of the world. No matter what, you're still better off than you were before you started improving your life here. You are. Me, too. And that's a fact.

And it's natural. I keep telling myself this. I've lost enough weight that - while I still know I've got plenty more to lose - I'm not in "panic mode" any more. I'm in clothes I haven't been able to fit into in years, and people have commented on my progress. I do look and feel better, so I've gotten a little complacent. I think you might be feeling the same way...are you?

But at the same time, if we drift away from our newfound health and wellness, and fall back into old habits, then this wasn't a lifestyle change, was it? I don't want this to be a diet...I want this to be the real thing. For LIFE.

So, I'm recommitting myself today. I thought about three things I could do to right now to rededicate myself and get that scale moving in the right direction again:

• I'm going to log my water every day. I was doing this in the beginning, and I stopped counting it. I don't know why. I like water, I drink a lot of it, and I should be logging it. Maybe I'm not drinking as much as I think I am. Who knows?! I am about to find out.
• I'm going to increase my miles per day on my bike. I have gotten comfortable riding 10 miles per hour, one hour per day. I can do 11 or 12 miles per hour. I used to. It made a bigger difference in the amount of sweat and I know that more mph means I'm pushing myself. 10 has become easy. I'm shooting for 11 this week. I may also get out my little hand weights and do some arm thingies while I'm riding. I won't log this extra exercise, but I will do it to see if I can increase the burn.
• I'm going to spend a little more time on here, supporting you. I haven't been the best at this lately, and I'm sorry. Sometimes, all I'm finding time to do is log in, log my food, and log out. I give a high five here or there, but since more people have become my friends (which I really appreciate!) I don't alway see what everyone is doing and I miss you! So, I am going to try to reach out to some of the friends I haven't seen in a while.

What can you do to recommit and increase your progress? Are you with me? Let's do this!