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It has been nine weeks since I made a commitment to shed excess pounds and get my cholesterol and triglycerides back into the healthy range as indicated on the pharmaceutical-sponsored, color-coded chart. My doctor noted in late January that the copious amounts of rich holiday foods I consumed during November and December had a slightly negative impact on my health numbers.

Prescription medications were not my first choice because I've heard that eating well and exercising have been known to do the trick without being costly or inducing weird side effects. Therefore, I began my quest to form healthier habits. My initial goals were to lower my cholesterol and triglycerides by the first week of May, while at the same time dropping thirty pounds by the end of June.

Lofty goals, I know, especially considering my progress to date. In a couple of weeks, blood tests will reveal the effects of whole grains, fruit, fish and a severe reduction of refined sugars on my health statistics. I believe with all my heart that my healthier diet has had an impact. If it hasn't, I'm headed to Hershey, Pennsylvania for the weekend armed with whatever prescription my doctor decides will do the trick.

The weight loss has been a whole other ball game. Seriously -- if changing what I eat is "baseball," then losing weight must be "playing billiards in the dark." Through last week, my net weight loss has been a whopping 2.7 pounds. I must focus on my net loss, as I seem to be yo-yoing, despite my determination to lose weight.

Through the first months of my weight-loss ordeal, I picked up a few important nuggets of wisdom. For example, birthdays are detrimental to weight loss plans. Even if you are strong enough to say, "Oh, just a sliver to taste," when offered a piece of buttery whipped frosting theme cake, and then head out for a brisk walk after enjoying the mini-morsel, it is difficult to record a loss for the week.

Part of the problem is our ability to stretch birthday celebrations to a full week of "special" dinners, entertaining and visiting. For Hubby's birthday, not only did I cook up a storm and top it all off with a luscious cake, but Mom went out of her way to cook a big meal topped with her famous "healthy" cheesecake.

There I was, after days of avoiding the buttery whipped frosting theme cake, faced with a "healthy" cheesecake. I'm here to tell you that no amount of "healthy" in a cheesecake will un-do the effects of two slices in a 24-hour period. I gained two-tenths of a pound that week.

Speaking of tenths, I highly recommend investing in a scale that measures pounds in increments of tenths. For several weeks straight, I was losing only two-tenths of a pound a week. If I had one of those scales that rounds up or down to the closest whole pound, I would have gone insane. Even a two-tenths loss is enough to keep one mentally on track.

Although, the weeks I gained weight, I probably would have done better not knowing the tenths. On my parents scale, for example, I hadn't lost as much overall, but I only gained back one pound at the end of week eight. On my scale, I gained back 2.1 pounds -- nearly half of what I'd lost up to that point. Not a good week for my self-esteem.

However, I have not given up. Which brings me to my next point -- rationalization can be a great weight-loss tool. It took nearly a day to come up with this theory, but I finally decided that all the walking, gardening and exercising I added to my routine for the purpose of weight loss and healthier statistics actually caused me to lose fat AND build muscle.

Everyone knows that muscle weighs more than fat, so of course I experienced a week during which I logged another weight gain. Considering how often Hubby and I walk lately, I'm 98 percent convinced that all great food Mom and I cooked over the Easter holiday week had absolutely nothing to do with my temporary backslide.

My biggest successes thus far occurred during the routine weeks that lacked special occasions. When I'm working all day and need to walk a little extra in the evening to unwind, and when we plan our non-descript meals served around baseball schedules, it is much easier to stick to smaller portions, avoid sweets and exercise.

There is only one more birthday in our family between now and the end of June. And if I ignore Mother's Day, Memorial Day and Father's Day, I still might have a shot at attaining my weight loss goal. If nothing else, my clothes will fit a bit better by the Fourth of July.

Keep up with Micki Bare's progress, posted weekly on her blog at www.arkansasnews.com!

Micki Bare is a columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau and the Courier-Tribune in Asheboro, N.C., and author of the book, "Relative Expressions." She lives in Asheboro with her husband and three children. Her e-mail address is mickibare@inspiredscribe.com