Week Thirty-One

WOOHOO!!!!!  Down 2.8 pounds!!!!!

If I had stayed for the meeting on Saturday, you better believe I would have been celebrating!  This brings the total weight loss, to date, to the grand total of 36.4 pounds.  I finally cracked the "35 pound loss" floor that I had been dancing around for weeks (it seemed).

I really wish I knew what exactly it was that brought on that loss.  I've been trying to figure it out.  I've been making sure that I stay hydrated and I take my vitamins.  Other than that, I'm not sure if the recent warmer weather played a part or if it's just that my body decided that it was okay to shed a few extra pounds.  I'm kinda leaning toward that explanation.  Nothing's really moved much the past few weeks, to my frustration, and then all of a sudden......BAM!  I've just been staying the course:  drinking water, eating my daily points "ration", keeping indulgences down to a dull roar, and making sure I exercise regularly.

I guess that's the thing to take away from this:  "stay the course".  It's really easy to get all frustrated with a lack of results (or the wishy washy ups and downs on the scale) and abandon what you know will eventually work for you.  I think it's really easy for us to get annoyed and lose faith with things that may take some time to take effect, and I think we tend to get irritated with ourselves when our bodies don't want to do something when WE think they should. 

Week Thirty

I did it again......forgot to post on the weekend after weigh-in.  I've been busy working on projects for Christmas presents on the weekends, and I've not really been getting on the computer much.

I went up this week a whole 0.6 pounds.  I'm not overly thrilled with the gain, but Chris and I did have mexican food for dinner on Friday and I'm sure the extra sodium didn't help me any.  For my part, I did try to make sure I drank a little extra water to help flush it out of my system, but it is what it is.  All I have to say is that at least my dinner was darn tasty and I enjoyed every bite!  That's the way a restaurant meal should be....something to savor and truly enjoy.  Believe me, I did!!!!

Since it seems like the weather is warming up again, I bought one of those reusable hard plastic cups with the straw so that I can be sure I'm drinking enough water at home.  I have gotten so much use out of that thing this past weekend, it isn't even funny.  I think the cup is 24 ozs. and I usually fill that thing up twice a day, and sometimes 3 times a day when it's a little warmer.  It seems like I tend to drink more water when I'm drinking it through a straw.  I also like the fact that the cup is reusable and sturdy as hell.  I had been reusing a Starbucks cup that I got iced coffee in about a month ago, and that promptly went in the recycle bin on Sunday.

Week Twenty-Nine

In my excitement, I completely forgot to post this weekend after weighing in.  I'm down 3 glorious pounds!!!!!!

I'm really not sure what contributed to the weight loss.  I didn't do anything different and I sure as heck ate when I was hungry.  I did make a point to drink plenty of water since it was rather warm and I wanted to make sure I was properly hydrated.  I get kinda gnarly headaches when I'm dehydrated and they're not particularly fun, especially when you're at work trying to concentrate.  (I'm sure sitting in an air conditioned office doesn't help with staying hydrated either.)

One thing that I was really proud of was Friday.  One of the managers was going to buy lunch for the small group of us in the office, and he was buying lunch from BJ's.  Whoa....pizza, pasta and more....what to do?  So, I checked the menu and I remembered that one time I had ordered these Thai Lettuce Wrap things and they were pretty tasty.  So, I went ahead and ordered them figuring they couldn't be all that bad and they were about the normal volume of food I eat at lunch normally.  Unfortunately, BJ's doesn't really have any nutrition info online, so I was at a loss for points calculation.  So, I figured I would just enjoy them, hope for the best, but have a normal dinner just in case.  I was able to find nutrition info online at another website for BJ's...and.....drumroll please.....with the help of the online points calculator, all 4 lettuce wraps cost me..............wait for it................................5 points.  SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was so happy that I was able to have lunch out, and still enjoy going out to eat with my husband that evening.

Week Twenty-Eight

I was hoping against hope that I wouldn't gain this week.....but I figured I'd be up a little bit.  Turns out I was right.  This week was not a good week for me at all.  I don't know what I did, but I torqued something in my neck and shoulders.  I've been in a lot of pain this week, and I was in a little bit of pain the week before as well.  Needless to say, being in pain has affected my sleep pattern and activity pattern.  Namely, I don't want to do anything that makes the neck and shoulder area move.  Kinda sucks....since almost EVERYTHING makes that area move.  Still, I do have the remainder of the weekend to rest up and try to get better before the coming week.  Here's hoping the next week will be relatively pain free so I can get out and move!

Week Twenty-Seven

Woo hoo!!!!  Goal met!!!!

That awful pound that Harry Potter put on last week was "magically" gone this week!  Well, not exactly magical.  I decided that I was not going to keep that pesky pound, so I was extra careful with what I ate and made sure that I drank plenty of water since it got a little warm.  We did eat out a couple times the past week, but I tried to keep it in moderation and I kept the ordering to a minimum.  I did have a moment of weakness with some Oreo cookies, but in all fairness I haven't had them for a long time.  I was proud that I only had four cookies, when normally I would eat 10-12 of them; I was actually satisfied after eating those cookies.  The craving was gone, and I honestly don't think I could have eaten any more than I did.  I forgot how sweet they are.

Here's hoping that I'll have another loss on the scale next weigh-in!

Week Twenty-Six

I went up 1 pound this week, and I know what caused it.  Yep.  Harry Potter made me gain weight.  For real!

We went to the movies last night to see the latest (and final) Harry Potter movie.  We had the requisite popcorn (no extra salt though) and the Twizzlers.  I know the extra sodium was none too friendly to me, and I did drink a little extra water to try and help flush out the extra salt....but I don't think it was enough.  That's okay though.  Going to the movies, eating out and celebrating are important parts of day to day life and I did have a lot of fun at the movies.  I'm okay with the gain, not overly happy with it, but okay with it.  Today starts a brand new week, and now the task at hand is to take that damn pound that Mr. Harry Potter gave me, and "avada kedavra" the hell out of it.  In muggle-speak, that means to basically kill it or get rid of it.

Week Twenty-Five

Down 2.8 pounds!!!!!!

This week was an interesting week because I don't feel like I did anything outside the scope of "normal" to get this loss.  This week was rather warm, so perhaps some of the weight loss can be attributed to water loss, but I'm not really sure that's the entire case.  I did make sure that I drank plenty of water to stay properly hydrated.  I have to say that really don't care much for the headache that comes with dehydration.  I also don't really care for the fatigue and dizziness. 

This week was also kind of a mixed bag in terms of how hungry I was.  I think that was related to how hot it was.  I noticed that some days I was starving when I woke up, and other days I really didn't eat (or want to eat) anything until almost noon.  I just made sure that I packed something to eat for breakfast and that I had some sort of snack (usually carrots or berries) just in case.  Most of the time this week, I didn't eat much for breakfast and I would wind up eating my snack for lunch since it was something cold and crunchy.  I also made sure I kept cut up fruit like peaches in the fridge at work, and sometimes I'd eat those for lunch.  For some reason this week, that was enough for me.  But, it wasn't a Week of Epic Hunger....so that's probably why I was able to slide by with that.

I think the Nugget of Wisdom to take away this week is to eat for what your body needs.  I noticed that with the days being so warm, I tended to want water-rich food items and I preferred to have cold food items as well.  Occasionally, I did want something hot to eat, and I would go ahead and heat up the Smart Ones for lunch.  I also made sure to drink plenty of water and fluids and make sure to take my vitamins (I know....I still struggle with this) to help ensure that I'm getting the right amount of nutrients.