Monday, November 15, 2010

Weekly Update - Week 22

(end of week 21/beginning week 22)

On the Scale
Lost this week: .8

Total loss: 55.4

The number says it all. Not even 1 pound. I know slow and steady wins the race. I'm still happy that it went down. To those who have already reminded me that I'm still losing at a healthy rate - I am listening to you, I really am. There is a big part of my brain that even thinks this is for the best, that my body will adjust to the weight loss better after this little slow down.

That being said, I'm still a little discouraged. The weight loss road has been pretty much smooth sailing until now. I keep telling my body that we're only about half way there so now is not the time to slow down. It doesn't listen. I have no choice but to keep doing what I've been doing and hope this passes soon. In lieu of my normal update categories I'm going to go through a few of the "little" changes that I'm hoping to blame for my new trend. Maybe I'll enlighten myself or something will jump out at someone reading this and I'll find a solution.

Coffee
I've been drinking more. I used to be a total caffiene-aholic but with my weight loss efforts I had cut back to 2 - 8 oz. cups per day, and often the 2nd was decaf. I'm back up to 4 cups on many days, mostly not decaf. I don't use sugar and I track the calories in my 1% milk. It's possibly I think I'm using 1/4 a cup when it's really slightly more.

Night Time Snacking
Night time snacking has become a habit. Usually a Vitatop or baby carrots with Laughing Cow - so we're talking about 100 calories. But this has become something I'm doing even if I'm not really hungry - just a habit.

Eating Past Full
I've noticed a few times that I've eaten more than I needed at dinner. It was a nutritious, healthy dinner and I had the calories available but afterward I just felt "full". Not just satisfied, but really full.

Less Activity
Every few weeks we have a really full schedule and that often impacts my workouts. I haven't made it to the gym more than once or twice a week. This week I didn't even compensate with working out at home or walking outside. I have done more Weight Loss Yoga - but that is not cardio and that's what I'm really lacking.

Hormonal Stuff
I have REALLY irregular cycles. It's not unusual for me to go months without TOM. Yesterday I started spotting so something hormonal is obviously happening.

Salt
Because of my blood pressure and the fact that I am just ridiculously addicted to salt I had pretty much gone cold turkey... until recently. I have been givinn myself the freedom to salt certain foods a little bit - it's possible that I'm not paying attention and this has become more of a habit than I thought.

Water
I've always struggled to drink enough water. I found that filling up two of those reusable plastic cups that look like Starbucks cold cups and then refilling them both a couple of times helped alot. The straw helped me drink more and faster. Well I left one of my cups at church a couple of weeks ago and that threw me off. I found it yesterday though... so that's good.

Bodybugg
I think it's possible that I eat more using this tool. Before I had it I was more focused on balancing my diet - so many proteins, so many grains, etc. But counting calories and using the Bodybugg I have been more focused on my deficit and as a result eating more as long as it fits in to my calorie "budget". But I know I'm supposed to make sure I'm eating enough so I don't know how much impact this has. I just know that I've only had 2+ lb week since I started using it and prior to that most weeks were 2+.

I think that's it. This may seem like I'm over scrutinizing my habits but this is important for me. It's the little things that got me to where I was and I need to make sure I'm changing in the right ways. I'm all for learning the hard way but I don't want to waste time - I've wasted too much already. So I'm going to pay attention to these little things this week and see if it makes a difference. With Thanksgiving and Christmas and my Husband reaching his goal this is no time for me to lose my motivation.

Needless to say I have abandoned my goal to be under 200 by Christmas. I'm ok with that. That was really just a mind trick to keep my motivation up. Those games aren't working anymore. In the beginning it was all about Motivation and Momentum. I'm finding out that this middle part is all about Perseverance. Eventually it will be Maintenance. Each stage has it's own challenges, lessons, and rewards. Sometimes, especially on Monday mornings, I just don't know if I'm up to this :(

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