It’s summertime! Which means that life is a lot easier – my schedule is free, healthy fruits and veggies are plentiful, and I have nothing but time to work on this goal. Success is practically guaranteed – all I need to do is follow through with my actions. My re-assessment meeting with my surgeon was on Friday, June 8th, which just so happened to also be my last day of school before summer vacation, making Fridays the perfect day to weigh-in. So throughout the summer, I’ll be giving Friday progress updates called Successful Summer Weigh-Ins.
This past week was a bit of a mixed bag. I did great with exercise over the weekend, but then when Monday hit, I just couldn’t seem to rally myself to workout. I made the choice to spend some time getting organized around the house – laundry had backed up and the house was badly in need of a deep clean. I did go swimming on Wednesday, because the temperatures were so high, but that was about it.
My food was pretty good, but I was feeling sort of bored with my usual choices. I didn’t log my meals in MyFitnessPal, either, which is so rare for me. Laziness took over here, too.
I decided to skip the scale this week, as well. I know that some of you are probably thinking that avoiding the scale will only lead me down a bad path, but I know myself. I think seeing another week at or up from last week’s numbers would put me in a bad frame of mind, and I just don’t want to let that happen. No more backsliding.
This week was a good lesson for me – even though I said I wasn’t going to let last week’s gain get to me, I think it did. And then instead of working my ass off to make up for it, I went in the other direction. Isn’t it funny how I can sabotage myself that way? Doing the exact opposite of what I should be doing to be successful. It just shows that I don’t have all of this on lock down and I can’t allow myself to get sloppy like I did this week.
Once again, I’m not going to make a bunch of declarations…well, not more than I already have. I’m just going to RELEASE myself from the guilt, shame, and disappointment, and I’m going to show my commitment to my goals with my actions. So look for my tweets and/or on MyFitnessPal to follow my food and exercise diary to see what I’m DOing.
Until next week, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful weekend!
I hope you are doing better today.
It takes quite a bit of work to build your enthusiasm after a few difficult days.
I find it helpful when I spend a little bit of time in the evening planning and visualising the next morning. It seems to help prepare mybrain and mood to get the day off to a good start.
Blessings
Sometimes forgiving yourself and moving on is all you can do. I can totally relate to you, and I’m in the same boat with a gain this week from my last weigh in (blogging about it later). Keep your head up and make this next week count!
Bella, I think you’ve really hit on something here. Guilt and shame really have NO PLACE in a journey to a healthy life, healthy relationship with food, and healthy relationship with our body. Healthy “normal” people don’t beat themselves up or hang their heads in shame when they have a less-than-optimal meal/day/week. They just make a decision to get back to healthier choices right away and chalk the “blip” up to real life. Glad you are doing the same!
Thank you so much for pointing this out. I know it to be true, but sometimes old habits are hard to break. Breaking bad habits is what my journey is all about.
I understand – I am feeling a bit frustrated over here. I had been steadily losing until a week ago – I have stalled since then and have just been going up and down within a 1.5 pound range. (I actually weigh everyday – I used to only weigh in once a week and like you a gain would throw me into a tailspin and totally knock me off course. So a few weeks ago I started weighing in everyday and recording it on MFP – it’s actually been a really good experience for me because now I’m able to see the daily fluctuations.) At any rate, it’s frustrating to have been steadily losing for 3 weeks and then to hit a plateau for the last seven days. I have been meticulous with counting my calories so I know it’s not that I’m overeating. I have not been walking because I got a nasty cold last week and have been on antibiotics (and caring for my sick partner) – so maybe when I start back to doing my daily walks I’ll see the scale start moving down again.
You can do this. Stop sabotaging yourself. (You and I are a lot alike in this respect!). I had a coaching session from a lady I follow on Facebook – she really helped me to gain a fresh perspective on this whole journey. The thing that I’ve been working on the most is taking the emotion out of my decisions to eat and exercise. I have been so obsessed over the years – constantly thinking about food and how it makes me feel – same with exercising. I looked at my walks and yoga as something I wanted to do but would end up talking myself out of it (putting myself last on the priority list). Now I’m switching it up by reminding myself that walking and yoga are things that I *have* to do. I have to do it to feel good, period. Like brushing my teeth. I wouldn’t dream of skipping that because I would feel gross.
I know you’ve probably heard this all before but just wanted to let you know that you aren’t alone and that so many people are rooting for you. Hang in there – keep your eye on the goal. You got this, Bella. You really do.
Oh – one other thing – a really great quote I posted on my FB wall the other day (I have a page called What’s Eating You?) – I also wrote it out on a post-it and stuck it on the calendar right in my line of site above my laptop at work:
“Good Morning Beautiful! Yesterday is over. All your slip-ups are forgiven! The score is zero – make it positive TODAY!”
Excellent quote! I’m keeping it in mind all day today (and all week!). Thanks for your previous comment as well, I really appreciate it.