Wednesday Weight Check-In

It’s been about 2 1/2 weeks since I started to get back on track with my weight loss efforts, and I thought it was time for a bit of a weigh-in post.

As you guys know, I’ve stopped doing weekly weigh-in posts toward the end of last year, for several reasons.  My weight was fluctuating back and forth so much that it was getting me really depressed.  Seeing the scale move back and forth was just no good for my motivation.  Also, I started looking at Wednesdays after my weigh-in as “cheat” days where I went way out of bounds with my eating plan.  That habit started back with WW when some of the people in my meeting would talk about how they were all going out to dinner afterward and eating whatever they wanted because “they had a whole week to work it off until the next weigh-in.”  I adopted that mentality, and it did nothing for my results on the scale.  In fact, it kind of gave in to the overeating/binging behaviors that I’d developed.  And also because Wednesday mornings would notoriously be the mornings that I was running late and didn’t have time to weigh myself, take a scale shot, and write up the post.

From that point on,  I started to weigh myself on an almost daily basis and entering those numbers into MyFitnessPal.  That meant that every day became the day before a weigh in, which mean I stayed on track with my eating.  I didn’t have any more “cheat days,” because the next day meant facing the scale.  I broke out of the habit of being “on” or “off” of a plan, and finally really started incorporating my food plan into my lifestyle.  And ok, I’m not going to be eating Bariatric Choice food for the rest of my life, but for now it has worked well for me.  Having the food that’s pre-portioned, high in fiber, and somewhat lower in carbs helps me stay on track.  I get the crunch of the chips as part of my lunch; I get the sweetness of the caramel chocolate bar as a snack.  I’m less tempted to go off plan because the foods really do satisfy my cravings.  And then I still have my Lean & Green meal to look forward to at dinner.

Once I had my food and behaviors around food sorted out, there was the last thing I needed to incorporate – exercise.  Without it, I don’t see big numbers on the scale, my motivation wanes, and I’m more likely to start slipping in my other efforts.  Plus, it’s a lot more difficult for me to get in the daily intake of water that I need to.  Working out fuels me – it makes me feel so good about myself, so proud of what I’ve just accomplished.  Strong.  Disciplined.  Happy.  And nothing beats the calorie burn for really seeing results on the scale.

So how have I done since I started back on December 26th?  I’ve lost 9.2 lbs, which is darn good!  It means I have 25.8 pounds to go to reach my pre-op goal.  Technically, if I keep this rate up, I could be at that goal in 6 weeks, which would be February 22nd, so that’s what I’m going to strive towards.

Now I know that I’m going to have some weeks when I don’t lose 4 pounds, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t push myself to try.  And if it means that I reach the goal in 8 weeks, or even 12, that’s fine, too.  Because I know that if I keep up what I’m doing, I WILL get there in the first quarter of this year.

Which seems completely surreal yet overdue, all at the same time.

Advertisement