Weigh-In Wednesday, Summer Week 8

I knew this morning that as much as I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best, it just wasn’t going to be pretty on the scale. I did my best with exercise during the week, but since the doctor told me to stick to low/no impact workouts, I had to cut the classes out completely. And as many calories as I burn swimming, it’s not the same as when I am sweating and pushing myself in Zumba or Turbo Kick, etc. (I will say that the rest has helped and my back isn’t hurt at all, so it does make me think that I need to make sure that for every “hardcore” class I take I spend the next day doing something lighter).  And then I made a poor choice on Monday night, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Which means I gained 2.8 pounds this week, for a total loss of 17 pounds.  The only good thing about that photo is that I got a pedicure on Friday, so my toes look nice.  🙂

I’m not going to focus on the negative here, because that really doesn’t do any good.  What I am going to say is that I gained weight because of choices I made, pure and simple.  And if I want to get the weight off and qualify for the VSG surgery, it’s going to happen based on choices I make, as well.  So instead of grabbing for something that satisfies a short term craving, I have to take a minute and remind myself what I’m doing all of this for.  Otherwise it’s going to be an endless up and down roller  coaster that I’ve been on countless times in the past.  And instead of riding the weight loss journey roller coaster, I want to lose enough weight that I can go on an actual roller coaster someday soon.

In general I make good food choices because I try not to keep tempting treats in the house (the No Pudge Brownies were an anomaly that will not return to my cupboards).  I have learned so much about myself in this past year and I know that I don’t want to completely deny myself those kinds of foods, but I also know that I can’t have them in bulk in the house.  So if I want a cupcake/brownie/cookie, I’m going to have it when I’m in a social setting, but not buy them in large quantities.  I’m going to try to be more European in that mindset – buy a delicious delicacy from the bakery and bring home a single size serving and enjoy it to the fullest, but know that when it’s gone, it’s gone.  That way, I’m truly indulging but I’m also not setting myself up for failure by going overboard.

As I mentioned yesterday, when I’m working out and giving it my all in that area, it definitely carries over into my food choices. So here’s my workout plan for the remainder of the week, through the weekend:

Wednesday: swimming
Thursday: Spinning (6pm) (attempting again to take my first-ever class)****
Friday: Swimming, Zumba (6pm)
Saturday: Long bike ride
Sunday: Walking (around San Fran, with my sister)

That’s my plan and I’m going to stick to it.  You can follow me on Twitter to catch my tweets about exercises (or just read them in the sidebar of this blog).

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Weigh-In Wednesday: Medifast, Week 9

If you read yesterday’s post, you know that today’s news from the scale wasn’t going to be pretty.  Originally I was going to give myself a pass from the scale.  Then I decided (after a great comment from Tina) that I would weigh myself and make a post, but keep it private (only viewable by me).  And then this morning I asked myself, why in the world don’t I want to publicize today’s weigh in?  What am I afraid of?  My readers are some of the most supportive, well-intentioned people I know, and I know they won’t ridicule me.  Plus, it’s no secret that I’m going to have a gain, so, what’s with the mystery?

So, loyal readers and bloggy friends, here is this morning’s scale shot…

Which means I gained 3.6 lbs this week, for a total weight loss of 21.4 pounds in 9 weeks. This isn’t the direction that I want the scale to move in, but it is what it is.  It kills me that I derailed a week and a half worth of weight loss in one evening.  But it is a good warning and reminder to me that this is what can happen when I make the wrong choices or allow myself to get out of control with eating.  It is a significant gain in one week, but it’s not catastrophic.  I can come back from this.

And with hard work this week and some extra time at the gym/being active outside I can turn it around and see a loss.  So the plan for this week, beginning today is no “extra” protein.  I’ve said before that I have customized the Medifast plan so that instead of eating 6-7 oz of protein at the main meal, I eat 4 oz of protein then and then have string cheese, Greek yogurt, and/or almonds as part of my snack to keep me going throughout the day.  Not this week.

This week I’m going to follow the plan the way it was meant to be followed.  Which means only the 5 meal replacements and then 1 lean and green meal (6 oz of protein and 2 cups of veggies, with a bit of healthy oil).  It will be difficult, but since I’m home for the next 5 days (still on Spring Break), I can manage it.  I don’t get as hungry when I’m at home because I’m not up and about as much.  Or I eat later in the morning because I sleep in.  You get the picture.  I can do it.

And when I do it, I should see a bigger loss on the scale next week.  Because Medifast says that the average weight loss is 3-5 pounds a week.  I haven’t been seeing numbers like that (mine are more like 2-3 lbs/week) because of my customization.  Up to this point I’ve been ok with that because I’ve felt like without the extra snacks I wouldn’t have been able to last this long on the program.  But I’m at the point in the journey now that I need to ramp things up a bit.  I know I can manage it, and I also know from past experience that any hunger I feel at first will go away as my body gets used to eating fewer calories.

Moving forward (beyond just this week), I’m going to stick to strict Medifast (no snacks) and see if I can reach my mini goal that much faster. It’s worth a shot, right?  I feel like if I could do a total liquid diet of only 500 calories a day, I can do this.

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