I know that Friday afternoons at 5pm are the ABSOLUTE worst time to post on a blog, because if you're anything like me, you're racing out of work, throwing on your sweat pants, and eagerly awaiting a weekend free from the glare of the computer screen.
Or, then again, maybe not.
But regardless, I promised I would post an update of my weight and here it is:
157.5
Well, seeing 157.5 this morning was possibly the cold, harsh slap that I needed to understand that this journey is not over--and perhaps it never will be--and that I can't eat anything I want, whenever I want and not gain weight. It's really just that simple. Maybe there are people in the world who don't love food as much as I do OR maybe there are people in the world who respect their hunger signals better than I do OR maybe there are people in the world who can eat as much as they want and not gain weight.
However, none of that matters to me. I happen to be the type of person who loves food, has trouble hearing/ respecting my hunger signals, and who can gain weight. Unfortunately, I will have to monitor my eating for the rest of my life. And yet, I truly believe that good habits bring about more good habits, just as bad habits solidify bad habits. In other words, when I'm eating well and exercising consistently, it's easier for me to stay on track and see rare indulgences as what they are--out of the norm. And, likewise, when I'm eating poorly and hardly exercising, I look at each meal as a chance to indulge and see healthy days as rare.
Well, it's time to switch the cycle. And it's also time to go home from work--thank goodness! Wish me luck!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Maintenance is not as easy as it seems
Well, it's official. I jinxed myself.
Just as I was getting good and cocky about my ability to eat whatever I liked, the tides turned. After countless nights of endless glasses of wine, ice cream, chocolate chip pancakes, too large servings of delicious, buttery foods, I saw what I had been dreading for some time: a gain on the scale.
You know, you'd think that the girl who struggled with weight for the past 2o or so years wouldn't be surprised when, lo and behold, overeating leads to weight gain. But I have to admit, the first time I stepped on the scale and saw 152.5, I thought the scale must be broken. I wracked my brain for an explanation--PMS, salty food, not enough water. I figured there had to be some other reason than the obvious.
At first, I stayed calm. But then I weighed myself the next day and saw an even higher number. And the next day after that. And after a while, I became a teary mess of pre-menstrual nerves...crying about my weight gain three times a day. Crying about my lost cat Leo (we found him, thank goodness), crying about god knows what. Mostly, I cried because all of a sudden my confidence was shaken: I had proven myself incapable of doing what so many others do seemingly with ease: maintain their weight.
As soon as I believed that I had failed, I felt this overwhelming loss of confidence in myself. Every outfit I tried on felt like second best. In my mind, I'd figure, this would look better if I were smaller/ tighter [insert body part here]. And I know that my reaction wasn't completely rational. No one can see a weight gain of five pounds. No one noticed. Except for me. And I took things more personally, became more self conscious about people, and increasingly thought of myself as a "fat girl," even though I know that I'm not.
So, the moral of the story is that I need help getting back on track. I'm not sure what getting back on track means for me. Does it mean counting points? Exercising more regularly? Becoming a lifetime member? I missed my last weigh in because I knew I was up and I didn't feel like starving myself the days before to get to my goal weight. I didn't want to reach this milestone in a fake way.
So, here are my goals.
1. Tomorrow morning I'm going to weigh in (and post the result here) and I'm going to have weekly Wednesday weigh-ins. I don't need to be weighing myself three times a day. It's not good for me, and I think even Nathan, the most patient boyfriend in the world, is getting a little tired of my thrice-daily crying fits.
2. I'm going to resume my daily lunch jogs at work. I'll pack my jogging clothes and ipod with me to work and I'll start jogging for 15-20 minutes every day. If nothing else, I know that the exercise will make me feel better and more confident in myself.
3. As for food, I'm going to stop eating 'til the point when I'm stuffed. I'm going to try to eat a well-balanced diet, without having to count points, because there is no way that I'm going to count points for the rest of my life. Now, I know that some people enjoy the structure of point counting, but that's just not a sustainable plan for me. I'm not going back on what I said in my previous post--I am finished with dieting. Since I am at a close to healthy weight now, I'm focusing instead on living naturally and eating intuitively. If my "natural weight" is 160 by eating pretty much what I like, well then so be it. I don't want to have to stress about weight and counting points for the rest of my life. For right now, I'm going to focus on drinking more water, cutting down on cigarettes (I'm up to a pack a day now, yuck!) and not eating past the point of contentment.
Well, these are my goals. Oddly enough, I actually feel better writing all of this down. I will be back tomorrow to post my current weight (cue scary music here) and I'll let you know how the lunch jog goes.
It's possible, just possible, that I may have underestimated the difficulty of maintenance.
Just as I was getting good and cocky about my ability to eat whatever I liked, the tides turned. After countless nights of endless glasses of wine, ice cream, chocolate chip pancakes, too large servings of delicious, buttery foods, I saw what I had been dreading for some time: a gain on the scale.
You know, you'd think that the girl who struggled with weight for the past 2o or so years wouldn't be surprised when, lo and behold, overeating leads to weight gain. But I have to admit, the first time I stepped on the scale and saw 152.5, I thought the scale must be broken. I wracked my brain for an explanation--PMS, salty food, not enough water. I figured there had to be some other reason than the obvious.
At first, I stayed calm. But then I weighed myself the next day and saw an even higher number. And the next day after that. And after a while, I became a teary mess of pre-menstrual nerves...crying about my weight gain three times a day. Crying about my lost cat Leo (we found him, thank goodness), crying about god knows what. Mostly, I cried because all of a sudden my confidence was shaken: I had proven myself incapable of doing what so many others do seemingly with ease: maintain their weight.
As soon as I believed that I had failed, I felt this overwhelming loss of confidence in myself. Every outfit I tried on felt like second best. In my mind, I'd figure, this would look better if I were smaller/ tighter [insert body part here]. And I know that my reaction wasn't completely rational. No one can see a weight gain of five pounds. No one noticed. Except for me. And I took things more personally, became more self conscious about people, and increasingly thought of myself as a "fat girl," even though I know that I'm not.
So, the moral of the story is that I need help getting back on track. I'm not sure what getting back on track means for me. Does it mean counting points? Exercising more regularly? Becoming a lifetime member? I missed my last weigh in because I knew I was up and I didn't feel like starving myself the days before to get to my goal weight. I didn't want to reach this milestone in a fake way.
So, here are my goals.
1. Tomorrow morning I'm going to weigh in (and post the result here) and I'm going to have weekly Wednesday weigh-ins. I don't need to be weighing myself three times a day. It's not good for me, and I think even Nathan, the most patient boyfriend in the world, is getting a little tired of my thrice-daily crying fits.
2. I'm going to resume my daily lunch jogs at work. I'll pack my jogging clothes and ipod with me to work and I'll start jogging for 15-20 minutes every day. If nothing else, I know that the exercise will make me feel better and more confident in myself.
3. As for food, I'm going to stop eating 'til the point when I'm stuffed. I'm going to try to eat a well-balanced diet, without having to count points, because there is no way that I'm going to count points for the rest of my life. Now, I know that some people enjoy the structure of point counting, but that's just not a sustainable plan for me. I'm not going back on what I said in my previous post--I am finished with dieting. Since I am at a close to healthy weight now, I'm focusing instead on living naturally and eating intuitively. If my "natural weight" is 160 by eating pretty much what I like, well then so be it. I don't want to have to stress about weight and counting points for the rest of my life. For right now, I'm going to focus on drinking more water, cutting down on cigarettes (I'm up to a pack a day now, yuck!) and not eating past the point of contentment.
Well, these are my goals. Oddly enough, I actually feel better writing all of this down. I will be back tomorrow to post my current weight (cue scary music here) and I'll let you know how the lunch jog goes.
It's possible, just possible, that I may have underestimated the difficulty of maintenance.
Friday, September 30, 2011
The End of Dieting
For the first time in my adult life, I haven't had to worry about losing weight. I feel like this bears repeating, for the first time in my entire adult life, I have not felt any pressure (external or internal) to lose weight.
I remember the first time I went on a diet. I was 12-years-old and I had just gotten home from my first date ever. Of course, it wasn't much of a date at that age--as I recall, we went bike riding and stopped by the Asian grocery store and bought sushi. Anyway, I remember that I got home and walked into the house, still glowing from the good time I had. I was wearing a tight, stretchy red shirt that I liked, when my dad walked into the room, looked pointedly at my bulging stomach and said, "Hmm...what's going on with your weight?"
I never wore that shirt again.
I remember walking upstairs that afternoon with my dad and stepping on the scale, and seeing what was then a very scary number: 150 pounds. As soon as I saw my weight, flashing in red, I started to freak out. I panicked as I realized how much bigger I was than everyone around me. My younger sisters were nine and seven, neither of them even close to 100 pounds. My own mom only weighed 130 pounds. Most of my friends weighed around 100 pounds. At age 12, I realized I was bigger and heavier than most of my family and most of my friends.
I stepped off the scale, completely and utterly horrified. My dad, the scientist and rational thinker, had a plan. He decided to put me on his version of Weight Watchers (my mom had recently lost some weight with the program). He created a spreadsheet with weekly weigh-ins (Tuesday evening) and I started the diet right then and there. I think that the diet basically consisted of fewer snacks and fewer seconds at dinner. It was a fairly reasonable plan. Every Tuesday, I would weigh in, my dad would track my progress (and I lost pretty much every week) and then we'd get pizza for dinner to celebrate. It all worked well for a while.
And then, I started to realize that if I ate less, I'd lose more. I started to skip meals, and then step on the scale, and lose multiple pounds in a week. I remember how proud my dad was of me. Nearly everyone complimented me, and I felt thin for the first time in my life. I had this desire to get to 128 pounds, and I remember trying like crazy to get lower than 134. The only problem: I felt hungry all the time. I remember going to bed hungry and waking up hungry. I remember watching my siblings with envy as they ate the treats I enjoyed, while I forcefully deprived myself. I started to resent the diet.
I don't remember the first time that I binged. But I do remember regularly going into the fridge when my parents weren't looking and taking two yogurts and two chewy bars and eating them quickly in my room before anyone noticed. I remember hiding containers and wrappers under my bed. And surely enough the weight started to creep back on. My dad, the scientist, didn't understand it; my weight gain didn't add up. At first, he truly believed there was something wrong with my metabolism. And then he started to realize that I was sneaking food, which led to our first conflict over my weight--when my mixture of emotions, guilt, shame, anger, made it nearly impossible for me to discuss my weight in an unemotional and non-defensive way.
After that first failed diet, I dieted on and off for my entire time in high school, fluctuating between 155-175 in those four years. After I left home to go to college, I completely rebelled, and as you know, my weight skyrocketed to the morbidly obese category--240 pounds. And then of course, for some reason at age 24, I joined Weight Watchers and, well, you know the rest of the story ;)
And now, at the age of 25, I have finally gotten back to what I feel is a natural weight for me. For the past month, I have not been on any sort of a diet. I haven't thought about points. Instead, my philosophy has been to eat when I'm hungry and (try) to stop eating when I'm full. I weigh myself every morning--to monitor my progress--and do you want to know the absolutely amazing thing? By listening to my body and my hunger signals, I have been able to maintain my weight. I am always somewhere between 149-151 pounds, no matter what I eat or what I do. How could this be? Is it really and truly this easy to maintain one's weight?
All I know is that it feels absolutely amazing to not have to worry about my weight, to be able to enjoy food completely guilt-free, and to be able to step on the scale without any fear of judgment. Somehow, throughout this journey to health, I've learned to trust myself. I am at a natural weight and as long as I live well and listen to my body, I know that I will be able to maintain it.
I remember the first time I went on a diet. I was 12-years-old and I had just gotten home from my first date ever. Of course, it wasn't much of a date at that age--as I recall, we went bike riding and stopped by the Asian grocery store and bought sushi. Anyway, I remember that I got home and walked into the house, still glowing from the good time I had. I was wearing a tight, stretchy red shirt that I liked, when my dad walked into the room, looked pointedly at my bulging stomach and said, "Hmm...what's going on with your weight?"
I never wore that shirt again.
I remember walking upstairs that afternoon with my dad and stepping on the scale, and seeing what was then a very scary number: 150 pounds. As soon as I saw my weight, flashing in red, I started to freak out. I panicked as I realized how much bigger I was than everyone around me. My younger sisters were nine and seven, neither of them even close to 100 pounds. My own mom only weighed 130 pounds. Most of my friends weighed around 100 pounds. At age 12, I realized I was bigger and heavier than most of my family and most of my friends.
I stepped off the scale, completely and utterly horrified. My dad, the scientist and rational thinker, had a plan. He decided to put me on his version of Weight Watchers (my mom had recently lost some weight with the program). He created a spreadsheet with weekly weigh-ins (Tuesday evening) and I started the diet right then and there. I think that the diet basically consisted of fewer snacks and fewer seconds at dinner. It was a fairly reasonable plan. Every Tuesday, I would weigh in, my dad would track my progress (and I lost pretty much every week) and then we'd get pizza for dinner to celebrate. It all worked well for a while.
And then, I started to realize that if I ate less, I'd lose more. I started to skip meals, and then step on the scale, and lose multiple pounds in a week. I remember how proud my dad was of me. Nearly everyone complimented me, and I felt thin for the first time in my life. I had this desire to get to 128 pounds, and I remember trying like crazy to get lower than 134. The only problem: I felt hungry all the time. I remember going to bed hungry and waking up hungry. I remember watching my siblings with envy as they ate the treats I enjoyed, while I forcefully deprived myself. I started to resent the diet.
I don't remember the first time that I binged. But I do remember regularly going into the fridge when my parents weren't looking and taking two yogurts and two chewy bars and eating them quickly in my room before anyone noticed. I remember hiding containers and wrappers under my bed. And surely enough the weight started to creep back on. My dad, the scientist, didn't understand it; my weight gain didn't add up. At first, he truly believed there was something wrong with my metabolism. And then he started to realize that I was sneaking food, which led to our first conflict over my weight--when my mixture of emotions, guilt, shame, anger, made it nearly impossible for me to discuss my weight in an unemotional and non-defensive way.
After that first failed diet, I dieted on and off for my entire time in high school, fluctuating between 155-175 in those four years. After I left home to go to college, I completely rebelled, and as you know, my weight skyrocketed to the morbidly obese category--240 pounds. And then of course, for some reason at age 24, I joined Weight Watchers and, well, you know the rest of the story ;)
And now, at the age of 25, I have finally gotten back to what I feel is a natural weight for me. For the past month, I have not been on any sort of a diet. I haven't thought about points. Instead, my philosophy has been to eat when I'm hungry and (try) to stop eating when I'm full. I weigh myself every morning--to monitor my progress--and do you want to know the absolutely amazing thing? By listening to my body and my hunger signals, I have been able to maintain my weight. I am always somewhere between 149-151 pounds, no matter what I eat or what I do. How could this be? Is it really and truly this easy to maintain one's weight?
All I know is that it feels absolutely amazing to not have to worry about my weight, to be able to enjoy food completely guilt-free, and to be able to step on the scale without any fear of judgment. Somehow, throughout this journey to health, I've learned to trust myself. I am at a natural weight and as long as I live well and listen to my body, I know that I will be able to maintain it.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Updates....A lot of Them
You know, it's kind of funny. Just a few months ago, I wrote a post, Weight Loss Fairy Tales, where I wrote about how nothing extraordinary happens when you hit that magic number: goal weight. And then I hit goal and my life does a complete 180, just when I wasn't expecting it.
So, let me take you back to when it all started. And this is going to be difficult to do because (a) I have 20 minutes before my lunch break is over and (b) there is so much to say. The last time I wrote a post, I was packing up my apartment, preparing to move back to Northern VA, save money, and start a new life. Today, just one month later, I'm back in Richmond, I have a new job as a Marketing Assistant, and I fell in love with an amazing person, N. I'm sure that he'll be popping up in the blog now since we're living together in Richmond now and trying to figure out how to build a happy and healthy life.
Since losing 90ish pounds, I know some tricks. Fruits and vegetables, constant exercise, limits on junk and alcohol are all ways to stay healthy. But this new phase of my life isn't just about food. It's about figuring out even bigger issues--how to live, how to save money, and how to find a career that's rewarding.
I'd like to share this new phase with you, if you don't mind my somewhat spasmodic ramblings. It's yet another journey, but, as always, writing will help to sort it all out in my head. And I've really, really missed writing this blog.
Last night, N and I picked up my two cats from my parents house and drove them back to our apartment in Richmond. As we were sitting in the car, listening to the Phantom of the Opera on high blast, singing along to all the lyrics, I looked at the road, and back at my cats, and I had this overwhelming sensation of being home. N smiled at me, and things just clicked: We're a family now: N and I, and my two psycho cats.
Needless to say, it's been an amazing month. I promise I'll update more consistently. Things are finally starting to calm down in Katie Land =)
So, let me take you back to when it all started. And this is going to be difficult to do because (a) I have 20 minutes before my lunch break is over and (b) there is so much to say. The last time I wrote a post, I was packing up my apartment, preparing to move back to Northern VA, save money, and start a new life. Today, just one month later, I'm back in Richmond, I have a new job as a Marketing Assistant, and I fell in love with an amazing person, N. I'm sure that he'll be popping up in the blog now since we're living together in Richmond now and trying to figure out how to build a happy and healthy life.
Since losing 90ish pounds, I know some tricks. Fruits and vegetables, constant exercise, limits on junk and alcohol are all ways to stay healthy. But this new phase of my life isn't just about food. It's about figuring out even bigger issues--how to live, how to save money, and how to find a career that's rewarding.
I'd like to share this new phase with you, if you don't mind my somewhat spasmodic ramblings. It's yet another journey, but, as always, writing will help to sort it all out in my head. And I've really, really missed writing this blog.
Last night, N and I picked up my two cats from my parents house and drove them back to our apartment in Richmond. As we were sitting in the car, listening to the Phantom of the Opera on high blast, singing along to all the lyrics, I looked at the road, and back at my cats, and I had this overwhelming sensation of being home. N smiled at me, and things just clicked: We're a family now: N and I, and my two psycho cats.
Needless to say, it's been an amazing month. I promise I'll update more consistently. Things are finally starting to calm down in Katie Land =)
Thursday, August 25, 2011
GOAL!!!!
Longer post to follow, but I officially hit my goal weight at my meeting this afternoon. I weighed in at 148.6 =)
YES!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, August 22, 2011
End of An Era
I apologize for my lack of blog posts as of late. To say that I have been busy would be an understatement. I have spent the last few weeks apartment hunting, looking/ applying for jobs, going on interviews. The good news is that I was offered a new job in Northern Virginia. The bad news is that my new job starts on August 29, just one week from today.
Which means that I had to resign from my current job, pack up all my belongings, sell my furniture, and say goodbye to a city that I have fallen in love with these past two years--all in the span of two weeks. It's been rough, to say the least.
While packing and moving and dropping boxes of clothes off at Goodwill has been physically demanding, the hardest part has been saying goodbye. I went to my favorite restaurant, Joe's Inn, for brunch and realized that this might be the last time I go to Joe's in a while. I went to my WW meeting on Thursday and had to tell all the members who have cheered me on this past year and half that I was leaving and I wasn't going to reach my goal weight. I said goodbye to all my close friends, and then my friends at the coffee shop, my friends at my bars, my friends in my building, etc...I think it's hard to realize just how much of a life you've created for yourself until you have to leave it.
My house is empty and bare now. In a way, it's a relief, because I don't much left to move this coming week. On the other hand, it's depressing and inconvenient as hell. I miss having a bed and sofa and dining room table. My television is currently propped up on two stacks of books with a board, and my bed consists of an air mattress on the floor. Leo, my sensitive cat, has taken to hiding under the claw-footed bathtub. Fanny, my precocious cat, has decided that knocking over random objects--such as glasses, nails, hammers, books--is an amusing game to play at 3am. Generally, it's a madhouse at my apartment.
So, with all of this going on, it's been harder than usual to focus on my weight loss journey. I am disappointed that I won't be hitting my goal weight in time for my last meeting in Richmond, but I know that I've come a long way, and it doesn't *really* matter that I'll leave my meeting being roughly 3 pounds from goal.
Living in Richmond has been such an amazing experience for me. I've lost weight, gotten healthy, built up my self confidence, made friends, and learned how to survive on my own two feet. I've grown a lot in the past two years, and I'm little anxious to leave the city that has helped me to accomplish so much. On the other hand, I know that it's not the place that has enabled me to do this--it's me. And I know that moving back home with a better job will enable me to grow professionally and economically. I just hope and pray that I'll be able to continue my healthy lifestyle without my own apartment and city. I hope that I won't be too lonely in Northern VA. I hope that I won't revert back to the old habits that made me 90 pounds overweight.
I don't think I will. I have enough faith in myself to know that it doesn't matter where I am, these changes are permanent. I'm excited and scared to start a new chapter in my life. I know that I've made the right decision, it's just hard to leave.
Which means that I had to resign from my current job, pack up all my belongings, sell my furniture, and say goodbye to a city that I have fallen in love with these past two years--all in the span of two weeks. It's been rough, to say the least.
While packing and moving and dropping boxes of clothes off at Goodwill has been physically demanding, the hardest part has been saying goodbye. I went to my favorite restaurant, Joe's Inn, for brunch and realized that this might be the last time I go to Joe's in a while. I went to my WW meeting on Thursday and had to tell all the members who have cheered me on this past year and half that I was leaving and I wasn't going to reach my goal weight. I said goodbye to all my close friends, and then my friends at the coffee shop, my friends at my bars, my friends in my building, etc...I think it's hard to realize just how much of a life you've created for yourself until you have to leave it.
My house is empty and bare now. In a way, it's a relief, because I don't much left to move this coming week. On the other hand, it's depressing and inconvenient as hell. I miss having a bed and sofa and dining room table. My television is currently propped up on two stacks of books with a board, and my bed consists of an air mattress on the floor. Leo, my sensitive cat, has taken to hiding under the claw-footed bathtub. Fanny, my precocious cat, has decided that knocking over random objects--such as glasses, nails, hammers, books--is an amusing game to play at 3am. Generally, it's a madhouse at my apartment.
So, with all of this going on, it's been harder than usual to focus on my weight loss journey. I am disappointed that I won't be hitting my goal weight in time for my last meeting in Richmond, but I know that I've come a long way, and it doesn't *really* matter that I'll leave my meeting being roughly 3 pounds from goal.
Living in Richmond has been such an amazing experience for me. I've lost weight, gotten healthy, built up my self confidence, made friends, and learned how to survive on my own two feet. I've grown a lot in the past two years, and I'm little anxious to leave the city that has helped me to accomplish so much. On the other hand, I know that it's not the place that has enabled me to do this--it's me. And I know that moving back home with a better job will enable me to grow professionally and economically. I just hope and pray that I'll be able to continue my healthy lifestyle without my own apartment and city. I hope that I won't be too lonely in Northern VA. I hope that I won't revert back to the old habits that made me 90 pounds overweight.
I don't think I will. I have enough faith in myself to know that it doesn't matter where I am, these changes are permanent. I'm excited and scared to start a new chapter in my life. I know that I've made the right decision, it's just hard to leave.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Katie Needs a Pep Talk
Today is my weigh in day. I am up two pounds on my scale and I anticipate a similar result for my official weigh in this afternoon. This is the second week in a row (I gained 0.2 last week) where I'm seeing a gain. I have wracked my brain for reasons to explain this.
Have I gorged on ice cream and cake? No. In fact, I turned down a slice of birthday cake yesterday.
Have I stopped exercising? No. I ran on Friday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I also did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred on Saturday and did two Southern Bell workouts on Tuesday.
Have I stopped tracking points? Stopped weighing and measuring food? Nope, still using my measuring cups, still using my food scale.
Have I eaten within my points? Yes, I still had eleven remaining WPs and did not touch my APs.
Have I eaten a lot of fruit? Absolutely. I am in love with fruit right now. Yesterday, I had a banana with my oatmeal, strawberries with my lunch, a peach for a pre-dinner snack, and a mango with my RF ice cream. Yes, a lot of fruit. But hardly worth a 2 pound gain on the scale.
Have I eaten a lot of sodium? Not an unusual amount.
Is it that Time of the Month? Yes, it is. Can that explain a 2 pound gain? Yes, I suppose so.
There's a law called Occam's Razor that says, to paraphrase, the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. Therefore, because my diet hasn't changed all that much in the past month or so, it makes more sense that TOM is the culprit for my unexpected gain.
Even though I feel mostly confident that my gain is a result of hormones not calories, it's hard to keep going when you follow the plan and see a gain two weeks in a row. I could get all dramatic, swear off Points+, storm around my apartment, and swear that for the next four months I'm going to live on nothing but black beans and oatmeal...but why? Having a temper tantrum will only irritate my neighbors (since I have a tendency to stomp my feet) and ensure that I'll annoy anyone who's willing to listen to me rant about the evil scale.
Instead, I think I'll go the opposite route and focus on what I have been doing right, non-scale victories so to speak.
Last weekend was a challenge, food wise, for me. I ended up going out on Friday night (for drinks), I went to a baseball game on Saturday, and I went to the epic Watermelon Festival on Sunday. Overall, I made really good food and exercise decisions. I limited my drinks on Friday, only had one light beer at the baseball game on Saturday (no soft pretzel), and only had fresh watermelon at the festival. I skipped many treats, including junk food at the baseball game and funnel cake at the Watermelon festival. I also did JM 30 Day Shred on Saturday and walked (roughly 1 mile) to the baseball game.
Throughout the weekend, I made the best choices I could, while still enjoying the activities I love.
This week has also been a challenge as I am actively apartment hunting, which has been fairly stressful since my lease is up September 1. I am proud to report that I exercised two days and I stayed within my Daily Points target every day. I didn't allow the stress of the move to sabotage my eating and I managed to squeeze in workouts (plus a yearly physical exam) into my unusually busy week.
All of this shows that I am learning how to juggle being healthy with the normal stresses of life.
So, my goal for today is to not lose sight of these positive victories when I go to weigh in this afternoon. I will not give my Weight Watchers receptionist evil eyes. I will not sulk and cry during the meeting. I will instead remain cool and focus on making this day a healthy one.
I know that if I continue to have healthy days, I will eventually hit goal.
Have I gorged on ice cream and cake? No. In fact, I turned down a slice of birthday cake yesterday.
Have I stopped exercising? No. I ran on Friday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I also did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred on Saturday and did two Southern Bell workouts on Tuesday.
Have I stopped tracking points? Stopped weighing and measuring food? Nope, still using my measuring cups, still using my food scale.
Have I eaten within my points? Yes, I still had eleven remaining WPs and did not touch my APs.
Have I eaten a lot of fruit? Absolutely. I am in love with fruit right now. Yesterday, I had a banana with my oatmeal, strawberries with my lunch, a peach for a pre-dinner snack, and a mango with my RF ice cream. Yes, a lot of fruit. But hardly worth a 2 pound gain on the scale.
Have I eaten a lot of sodium? Not an unusual amount.
Is it that Time of the Month? Yes, it is. Can that explain a 2 pound gain? Yes, I suppose so.
There's a law called Occam's Razor that says, to paraphrase, the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one. Therefore, because my diet hasn't changed all that much in the past month or so, it makes more sense that TOM is the culprit for my unexpected gain.
Even though I feel mostly confident that my gain is a result of hormones not calories, it's hard to keep going when you follow the plan and see a gain two weeks in a row. I could get all dramatic, swear off Points+, storm around my apartment, and swear that for the next four months I'm going to live on nothing but black beans and oatmeal...but why? Having a temper tantrum will only irritate my neighbors (since I have a tendency to stomp my feet) and ensure that I'll annoy anyone who's willing to listen to me rant about the evil scale.
Instead, I think I'll go the opposite route and focus on what I have been doing right, non-scale victories so to speak.
Last weekend was a challenge, food wise, for me. I ended up going out on Friday night (for drinks), I went to a baseball game on Saturday, and I went to the epic Watermelon Festival on Sunday. Overall, I made really good food and exercise decisions. I limited my drinks on Friday, only had one light beer at the baseball game on Saturday (no soft pretzel), and only had fresh watermelon at the festival. I skipped many treats, including junk food at the baseball game and funnel cake at the Watermelon festival. I also did JM 30 Day Shred on Saturday and walked (roughly 1 mile) to the baseball game.
Throughout the weekend, I made the best choices I could, while still enjoying the activities I love.
This week has also been a challenge as I am actively apartment hunting, which has been fairly stressful since my lease is up September 1. I am proud to report that I exercised two days and I stayed within my Daily Points target every day. I didn't allow the stress of the move to sabotage my eating and I managed to squeeze in workouts (plus a yearly physical exam) into my unusually busy week.
All of this shows that I am learning how to juggle being healthy with the normal stresses of life.
So, my goal for today is to not lose sight of these positive victories when I go to weigh in this afternoon. I will not give my Weight Watchers receptionist evil eyes. I will not sulk and cry during the meeting. I will instead remain cool and focus on making this day a healthy one.
I know that if I continue to have healthy days, I will eventually hit goal.
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