I stepped on the scale Monday, and I was disappointed. The numbers had gone up not down. I knew it was going to be that way, but I was hoping it wouldn’t be.

I haven’t been good about my eating habits lately. I told myself it was OK to indulge once in a while, and it is, but not for days in a row.

So I am going to renew my commitment to losing weight and exercising. I am even considering taking drastic steps.

One of my big pitfalls, I believe, is the number of calories I consume in liquid form — coffee with creamer, pop (although I don’t drink a lot of this) and alcoholic beverages.

I am going to take the easy step first — I am eliminating all regular pop from my diet. I reserve the right to continue to drink diet drinks because….

I am going to give up alcoholic beverages. This one is tougher because I am a social drinker. It is going to require me to tell people in social settings “no thanks;” and I don’t think that is going to be easy to do. But this is a place where I really need to get my calorie intake under control. If I am trying to stick to a 1200-1500 calorie diet, the 110 calories in just one can of beer is a huge percentage.

I am not yet ready to give up my coffee and creamer. I know I should, but I can’t do it yet.

I am also going to increase my water consumption. I have done this in the past, and I like the way it makes me feel, but I have not been doing this lately.

One of the problems with my intake of liquid consumption is that I like convenience in my drinks. I would much rather open my fridge and take out a cold can or bottle of whatever and consume it than go about the effort involved in grabbing a glass and pouring something or waiting for the faucet’s water to get cold. I need to get over this convenience factor.

I have not lost any weight, but I have been maintaining my weight.

I am tired of not losing weight, and I really need to tighten up my belly. This means I have to exercise regularly.

I am on the right track. I have added biking and walking to my regular routine. When I drive (and I do this a lot), I have started sucking in and holding my gut, letting it out, and repeating, hoping that this will help me tighten that particular body part.

Hubby and I have been walking pretty regularly, and I am biking. For the most part, biking is going well. I can tell that it is still a new activity, however, when I sit down on something hard like in the bathtub when I shave my legs.

I am not where I want to be in my weight-loss journey. It is discouraging. The only thing for me to do, however, is to just keep trying and to step up the exercise.

Easier said (typed) than done, but still. I need this. I can do this. I will not give up.