I actually weighed myself this morning. That alone feels like a small act of bravery. I figured that if I’m going to try to lose weight, I need a starting point.
I’ve always been scared of the scale. Even when I was younger and technically underweight, the number still felt loaded, like it had the power to define my worth in an instant. I didn’t want to see it; I didn’t want to deal with whatever emotions it might dredge up. So I avoided it altogether.
I’ve also started tracking my calories. I already had the app, just never actually used it, which feels very on brand for me. First big discovery: sugar-free creamer has calories. Apparently, “sugar-free” does not mean “magically exempt from math.”
I truly believed it lived in a calorie-free loophole, floating somewhere between science and vibes. But no, turns out it still counts. Who knew? (Everyone. Everyone knew.)
I’m planning on having a salad for lunch today. I have a tomato and an avocado to add to it, and I’ll throw in a hard-boiled egg for some protein. I probably need more protein in my diet.
Right now, though, I’m going to have a cup of coffee because I still have about two hours until lunchtime, and I’m already hungry. Intermittent fasting is definitely harder on weekdays since I’m up at 5 a.m., which means there’s a full seven hours between waking up and eating. That’s a long stretch.
Weekends are much easier. I wake up later, we have coffee, usually get some exercise in, and before I know it, it’s time to eat. Weekdays just don’t have the same grace period.
Since I already use a Hobonichi Weeks for planning, I figured I’d check out the free Hobonichi app too. Why not fully commit to the Hobonichi ecosystem, right? The app is basically a digital journal/planner, and it synced right up with my Apple Watch and phone, so now it knows how many steps I take, how I sleep, my weight, and probably my general vibes.
It’s actually really cute, and I do like it. The big question, though, is: how long will I keep using it? That’s always the test. I’m excellent at downloading apps, setting them up, and then completely forgetting they exist.
Case in point: my calorie-tracking app. We had a brief, spirited relationship. It was very motivated. Very optimistic. And now it’s just… there. Waiting. Patiently. Judging me in silence.
Oh! I don’t have Apple Music up right now. I did start studying early, but never put on any music. I think the soundtrack will be lo-fi for studying.
Geez, my lunch was almost 400 calories, and it was a salad! A SALAD. I really thought I was doing something here. Turns out the avocado and tomato were quietly carrying most of the calorie load. I barely used any dressing, just a little Greek dressing, so I was honestly shocked. Even the lettuce betrayed me with its 5 whole calories. I truly believed lettuce existed outside the calorie system, like water or air.
I guess if I cut out the avocado, the total would drop a lot… but also, what is life without avocado? Let’s be real.
Also, a minor detail I almost forgot to mention: I had two chicken wings. And an egg. For protein. So yeah, when I actually list everything out, the calories start making more sense. Honestly, considering it was real food, vegetables, protein, fats, almost 400 calories for lunch isn’t terrible. It wasn’t junk, it was filling, and maybe it will keep me from wanting a snack in two hours. I’m calling this a reasonable, grown-up lunch… even if the lettuce tried to gaslight me.
Remember when I mentioned that the hallway floor was wet, and we assumed it was just snow? Plot twist. It was not snow. It was the kids’ bathroom staging a full-on covert operation. One of their two sinks had a leak underneath, quietly soaking the carpet like it was no big deal.
We told the landlord, who immediately called a plumber. The plumber came out the same day. On Friday. We were surprised by that.
The timing, though, was comedy gold. Tommy was in therapy in the office next door when he heard suspicious noises coming from the bathroom. Naturally, he assumed Alex was in there trying to “fix” the leak. So he paused his therapy session to come out and tell Alex to wait. Except… it wasn’t Alex. It was the plumber. Just casually doing plumber things. Tommy said hi, realized his mistake, and quietly returned to therapy.
Once the sink was fixed, Tommy bought one of those floor blowers that sounds like it could achieve liftoff. We were fully prepared for the carpet to take several days to dry. Nope. One day. Done. Impressive.
Now all that’s left is to go over the big spot with the carpet cleaner, just to erase the last evidence of the Great Bathroom Leak of 2026.
So that was Friday. It was one of those days when everything happened all at once. Tommy had therapy, a haircut, and a dental cleaning, a full-service maintenance day. After that, we stopped at Costco for a few things, which somehow also turned into yet another hearing-aid adventure. The plastic dome of my hearing aid got stuck in my ear again, because of course it did. While we were there, they also changed the receiver in my hearing aids, which thankfully fixed the static I’d been hearing in my right ear. Small victories.
Saturday is a bit of a blur. I’m having trouble remembering much, which probably means it was a quiet day. I don’t think we went anywhere; I think we mostly stayed home and relaxed. I made spaghetti for dinner. The kids went out and watched a movie called Iron Lung. From how they described it, it sounded very gory. Definitely not my kind of movie, but they seemed to like it, so that’s what matters.
Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday. Tommy made chicken wings, and we had leftover spaghetti with fresh noodles. In the middle of the game, we had to leave for Tommy’s hockey game. The hockey game turned out to be really good. It ended in a tie, went into overtime, and then into a shootout. Tommy was the only one who scored a goal during the shootout, so his team won.
Because of hockey, I missed the halftime show, so I watched it this morning instead. I thought it was good, I liked the music and the choreography. It felt like a celebration of different cultures in the U.S., which was really nice to see.
Not sure if I want a matcha tea or a coffee. This is the internal debate of the afternoon. If I have matcha, it’ll need oat milk, which, rude, has more calories than the little splash of creamer I’d put in coffee. Coffee, on the other hand, is the safer calorie choice… but also, I’ve already had two cups today, and my nervous system does not need a third opinion.
So here I am, weighing caffeine, calories, and future-me’s feelings.
If I go with coffee now, then later I’ll be like, “Well, I already had coffee, so I probably shouldn’t have matcha,” and then I’ll feel quietly betrayed by my past decisions. But if I choose matcha now, it feels intentional. Like someone who definitely has their life together and didn’t just Google how many calories are in oat milk five minutes ago.
Decision made: matcha tea it is.
One cozy, green, slightly higher-calorie beverage.
I’m rescheduling my eye appointment right now, which means I’m currently trapped in Phone Hold Purgatory. The music is playing, my patience is thinning, and I really wish they’d just tell me, “Your wait time is approximately 47 years.” At least then I could plan my life accordingly.
The recording kept chirping, “Press 1 for a callback,” over and over, like a very polite but extremely persistent ghost. After a while, I got tired of waiting. I pressed 1. I surrendered.
Immediately, the phone started ringing. A real human answered. A REAL. HUMAN.
I was able to change my appointment date with zero drama. No hold music remix. No existential crisis. Just… done.
Which raises the real mystery here: how long would I have been on hold if I hadn’t pressed 1? Was I seconds away from freedom? Or was I about to grow old listening to smooth jazz?
Either way, my appointment is now in April. Sigh. At least I have an appointment. Small victories. Big confusion. Classic phone call experience.
I’m going to finish up some studying and then call it a day. I’m getting hungry. We are fending for dinner tonight since we have a lot of leftovers. I’m not sure what I want to eat. But I do know I want to eat soon.
