Progress?

Just an update, and some thoughts about how to move forward...

I have been sticking to my plans for the most part :) Cup of coffee with 1 tsp turbinado and heavy cream first thing. Breakfast/brunch most days is 4 oz nonfat Greek yogurt w/2 oz heavy cream + half a pack of instant oatmeal (GF maple brown sugar) with about an ounce of unsweetened frozen or canned fruit (usually peaches), about 2 Tbsp chopped pecans,  and some cream. It's been holding me up well. Some days I skip breakfast, especially if I sleep late, and don't eat until lunch. At lunch I try to get about 20g of carbs, 10-15g of protein. Supper is usually 3-4 oz of meat + 1/2 lb frozen veggies, occasionally with some carbs added in. I bought some (unsweetened) dried fruit (mango, pineapple, apple, strawberry) today to put in my oatmeal for more variety.

The Good:
I've had more energy lately
My feet and ankles haven't been swelling as much, and they've been going down more quickly
I've been more mindful than usual of what I'm eating
Sugar cravings are down

The Bad:
The scale hasn't changed much (may be up a couple pounds but that's it), but I can feel that my midsection is bigger

I'm concerned about the fat gain. Considering muscle weighs more than fat, and the scale hasn't changed much, I'm wondering if I'm losing muscle. I've been getting about 60g of protein a day, but I'm playing around with the idea of increasing it to .5 times my current weight, which would bring it to 85g. I don't know if I'm eating enough in general this summer. I've been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing, so my activity level isn't super low. Once work starts back in a couple weeks (I work at an elementary school), I'll be eating more consistently.

I shopped for snacks for work today. I got some more of the GF cheese crackers I like, turkey jerky, roasted almonds, and some coconut rolls to try (I've had another brand, but not these). I'm hoping these will make candy less appealing! I don't eat much of it at work, but I usually have a little bit. Sugar has been tasting super sweet to me lately (yay!), so it's easier to stay away from it.

Now that I have a good bit of open floor space in one room, I'd like to try to get back into some weight/resistance training. I've never been consistent about it (except one summer when I was 19 and went to aerobics/training classes) but I'm thinking about how I could work it in at least 2 or 3 times a week. I have a thick exercise mat, an aerobic step, dumbbells (2 sets, each with 1, 2, and 3 lb pairs), and ankle weights (adjustable .5 to 2.5 lb each). I would do best with a video to guide me. The thought of sifting through YouTube videos is overwhelming, but I don't have money to spend on buying any right now. The ones I had are all VHS (yep, they're that old LOL) and I have no way of watching them, even if they still work after being in storage for so long. I think 15-minute segments would be a good place to start - 1 segment/day, 1 day each of arms, abs/midsection, and legs/butt, for a total of 3 days/week.

So that's where things stand as of now...